The Disappearance of Louis Danhi

Source: California Department of Justice

Louis Danhi has been missing since June 2013. The then-38-year-old man was last seen in Stanislaus County, California. Louis last spoke to his girlfriend, Rebecca, via phone on June 20th, 2013. He told her that he was going to drop a friend off before going to the San Francisco International Airport catch a flight to Las Vegas. Louis never made his flight and has never been seen or heard from again. 

Rebecca tried to get in touch with Louis several times around the time he was supposed to arrive in Vegas, but her calls and texts went unanswered. She eventually learned he had never made his flight. Worried, Rebecca subsequently contacted Louis' father, Adam Danhi, to let him know about her concerns.

Adam tried to get in contact with Louis several times himself before eventually reporting him missing on June 22nd, 2013. That same day, Louis' rental car was found abandoned in "an unincorporated area near Livermore, California." The car reportedly did not yield any clues about Louis' whereabouts. 

Reports state that Louis was involved in the marijuana business. He was arrested in 2004 after trying to ship nearly 60 pounds of marijuana from Glendale, California to the east coast. By 2013, Louis was living in Massachusetts. However, he was still involved in the marijuana industry and often flew to California for business. 

Louis' father, Adam, has been dedicated to finding his son. In 2019, he filed a petition to declare Louis deceased and to establish the facts of his death. The documents in the petition reveal even more suspicious circumstances surrounding Louis' disappearance.

The initial investigation.

Source: Stanislaus Area Crime Stoppers

According to the court documents, Louis' father Adam filed a missing persons' report with the Los Angeles Police Department. In mid-July 2013, after several weeks passed without any word for the L.A.P.D., Adam was referred to a private investigative firm. An associate from the firm, Bill Marsh, was assigned Louis' case. 

A July 2013 report from the private investigation stated, "The investigation has reached the point where, unfortunately, there is significant reasonable belief, supported by circumstantial evidence that [Louis'] disappearance is due to foul play, and has been caused by a person or persons unknown." 

The court petition does not elaborate further on the evidence that led to the belief that Louis was murdered. After that, Adam stated that several months went by without any real movement in Louis' case. 

A trip to Laytonville reveals more information.

The documents note that at some point, there was information that led the investigation to Laytonville, California. Laytonville is located an approximate three hour's drive - nearly 200 miles - away from where Louis' rental vehicle was found near Livermore. 

Source: Google Maps

In spring 2014, Adam and Louis' childhood friend, Eric Arusi, went to Laytonville to try and investigate Louis' disappearance themselves. Eric had acknowledged that he knew Louis had conducted business in that area; he had accompanied him on such business trips in the past. 

Once in Laytonville, Adam and Eric encountered an acquaintance of Eric's who stated that he knew of a person who might have information about Louis' disappearance. The person - who the documents identify as T.B. - had "abruptly gone to Mexico about the same as Louis went missing" and had returned four months later. 

Adam and Eric were directed to a Mexican restaurant owned by T.B.'s father. Once there, they spoke with a woman named Sandra Mann about Louis' disappearance, and their belief that he had been murdered. According to the documents, "Sandra appeared to be stunned upon hearing this."

The documents further explain that, after showing Sandra a missing persons' poster with Louis' picture, she "burst out crying and told us that Louis was her boyfriend and she had been wondering why he was not answering her calls or contacting her at all for some time."

Sandra also told Adam and Eric that T.B. and Louis had done business together, and that T.B. had introduced Louis to members of a marijuana cartel in the area. Sandra then called T.B. and asked him to come to the restaurant. 

After T.B. arrived, Adam and Eric questioned him about Louis' disappearance. T.B. denied involvement; he stated that Louis had been arrested. The documents note that T.B.'s claims did not seem believable, as he appeared fidgety and acted evasive about certain questions. Although Adam did not believe that Louis had been arrested, he still called Laytonville police - who confirmed that Louis had not ever been in their custody. 

Adam eventually passed all the information he obtained on the trip to Laytonville to the private investigative firm. The private investigator reportedly followed up on this information but was not able to take the case any further. This contributed to Adam's eventual decision to petition the court to have Louis declared deceased. 

Unanswered questions.

The court documents provide a lot of information about Louis' disappearance, but said information leads to some unanswered questions as well. It seems likely that Louis was killed by a person, or persons, related to the marijuana business - though his has not been confirmed.

Sandra Mann alleged that the man known as T.B. introduced Louis to people in a local marijuana cartel. It's possible that the cartel is responsible for Louis' disappearance/presumed murder - assuming Sandra Mann has provided a reliable account. While there's also no definitive proof that Sandra was dishonest, it seems odd that she claimed to be Louis' girlfriend, but she had not reported him missing.

Sandra noted that she had not been in contact with Louis at the time she spoke to Adam and Eric. However, this conversation happened in spring 2014 - and Louis had been missing for nearly a year by this point. This leads to questions about both Louis' relationship with Sandra and other information she might have about his disappearance.

It's known that Louis also had another girlfriend, Rebecca, whom he lived with in Massachusetts. Although Louis was on the other side of the country when he vanished, Rebecca still immediately sprang into action when she was unable to get in touch with him. Sandra, who was seemingly in the same state as Louis at the time of his disappearance, did not report him missing, and seemed to be shocked when confronted about his disappearance - despite claiming she had not seen him for quite some time. 

Additionally, it's clear that Sandra knows T.B. - the associate of Louis' who told a false story about Louis being arrested. Is it possible that both T.B. and Sandra have more information about Louis' fate than they let on? Are the claims about the cartel false?

It should be noted that the documents do not state when Sandra met Louis, or when Sandra last saw Louis. It's possible that two had an ongoing relationship during Louis' many business trips to California, but this has not been confirmed. 

Another person worth mentioning is the "friend" Louis said he was going to drop off during his final phone conversation with Rebecca. His loved ones do not know who said friend was, and the person has never been identified. 

No suspects or persons of interest.

As of today, no suspects or persons of interest have ever been publicly identified in Louis' case. There are obvious suspicions about who might have been involved, but there is allegedly no definitive proof. Nobody has been ruled out, either. 

The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department is in charge of Louis' missing persons' case. If you have any information that could help the investigation, please contact authorities at 209-525-7117.

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Sources:
California Department of Justice
Charley Project
LA Times
Trellis Law (court documents)