Body found near missing man’s car in Fallbrook

FALLBROOK — A body was found near the car of a missing 76-year-old Temecula man in Fallbrook Monday and authorities are waiting for the county Medical Examiner’s office to make a positive identification.

Robert Cricks had gone missing early Thursday when he was last seen driving away from a Murrieta-area restaurant by his wife. Authorities described Cricks as having severe dementia and said he would have been unable to locate his own home.

A break in the case came Sunday when someone came across his vehicle on De Luz Road on the border of Fallbrook and Riverside County around 5:35 p.m. Search and rescue teams, aided by helicopters, were looking for Cricks Monday when the body was found.

“A body was found shortly after 11 in close proximity to the car. The Coroner will make the identification,” San Diego Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jan Caldwell said in an email.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said Cricks had been waiting in his running Infinity G35 sedan around 2:42 a.m. Thursday when his wife went into a restaurant near Winchester Road and Murrieta Hot Springs Road.

She told officers that her husband drove off in the car toward Temecula. She said she had the vehicle’s key fob with her, meaning he would not be able to restart the car if it was turned off.