Remains officially identified

Deepa Bharath

How big was Matt Large’s smile?

When he smiled, his eyes lighted up. When he smiled, you could see

most, if not all of his pearly whites. And there was such pure joy in

his smile that, sometimes, it almost knocked the black-rimmed glasses

off his face.

A former Newport Harbor High School champion wrestler and a

lifetime Costa Mesan, 23-year-old Large had just moved to Huntington

Beach. He was buff, excited and counting down the days until his

first-ever “ultimate fighting” match 14 months ago when he suddenly

disappeared. His family reported him missing Dec. 8, 2001, after he

didn’t show up for a “pre-match dinner” his mom had cooked.

Large’s pickup truck was found submerged Dec. 28, 2001, in

Humboldt County. On Feb. 8 of this year, detectives found what they

said was possibly Large’s skeletal remains buried in the sand across

the bay from a boat ramp where the truck was found.

On Wednesday, the search for Large officially concluded. The

Humboldt County Coroner positively identified the remains, Huntington

Beach Police Lt. Ron Burgess said.

“I don’t know how exactly they came to the conclusion,” he said.

“I would guess it was done with dental records.”

Police have issued an arrest warrant for 53-year-old Tommy

McGuire, who is suspected of murdering Large. He is also wanted for

on suspicion of possessing explosives.

Police said they believe he is armed and dangerous and is known to

frequent Humboldt and Orange counties.

Large was last seen in an Orange County apartment occupied by

McGuire and his 21-year-old son, Travis, who was a friend of Large’s,

Burgess said. He said Tommy McGuire “had connections in Humboldt

County and even lived there for a while,” he said

Travis McGuire died last year of unknown medical complications in

UCLA Medical Center, Burgess said.

“We don’t know what his condition was, but we do know that he was

a candidate for a kidney transplant,” he said.

Large’s parents, Kim and Tony Large, say they never heard of

McGuire nor his son.

“We know a lot of Matt’s friends,” Kim Large said. “But we’ve

never heard of these people. We’re wondering who this person is.”

That, she says, is mysterious, because her son was “very, very

close” to his parents and brothers Nate and Mikey.

Matt had moved out of their house six months before his

disappearance, but he was there “five out of seven days in a week,”

his mother said.

He was almost an alternate parent to his brother Mikey, who was

nine years his junior, Kim said.

“He was always after him asking him what he was doing, who he was

hanging out with,” she said.

And that was not all. Matt loved his baby nieces and nephews. When

he held them, his face lighted up with that big smile his family

remembers him for. It used to be a smile that dazzled their lives.

But now, it remains a memory that takes them to ecstatic heights one

moment and plunges them to depths of unbearable sorrow another.

Matt had always been a very physical person with a love for the

great outdoors, his father said. He enjoyed fishing, skiing,

skydiving, roller-blading, riding motorcycles -- just about anything

under the big, blue sky.

“He was a great skier,” Tony Large said. “He could do everything

everyone dreams about -- the flips, jumps -- he could do them all.”

He made a big picture card for his mom on Mother’s Day 1998 that

still hangs in the living room. He bought white T-shirts for his

brothers and himself, went to the store and got a picture of the

three of them together.

“He always called her momma,” Tony Large said. “Not in a joking or

kidding way. It was what he called her.”

Matt excelled as a wrestler in high school and won several

accolades for Newport Harbor High. He won the Coach’s Award, as well

as the Top 15 Athletes Award. He was a two-time CIF placer and a

two-time Masters qualifier.

He worked several jobs after high school, but his true ambition

was to become an ultimate fighting champion. Ultimate fighting is a

sport that combines wrestling, martial arts and kickboxing.

“Matt worked very hard at the gym to get to where he got,” his

mother said. “He had picked out his outfit and robe for the big

fight. But he never got the chance to get up there.”

Does Wednesday’s discovery bring a sense of closure for the

Larges?

“Not really,” Kim said, choking up. “I know it should, but it’s

going to take a while before I can accept it.”

The family’s worries began Dec. 6, 2001, when Matt did not return

calls.

“When he didn’t show up for dinner on Dec. 8, we were all

worried,” she said. That was the day they reported him missing.

“For one month, all we did was look for him,” Kim said. “We

checked freeway offramps all over Orange County. Maybe he had gone

off the road, maybe he had an accident. We had to look everywhere.”

Even when police found his submerged truck in Humboldt County, the

family held on to the hope that their son might come back to them

some day, she said.

Kim held up a small button with the words HOPE printed on it. It

was sent to the family by an organization in Phoenix, she said.

“This button has been near our telephone for the last 14 months,”

Kim said. “And I still haven’t removed it from there because it’s

hard to.”

Kim has been looking at stacks and stacks of Matt’s photos. Baby

pictures. The toddler playing with his toys. The little boy in the

yard. The adolescent with his brothers. The young man with his family

on vacations, fishing trips, holding babies and the playful boy, just

sticking out his tongue and goofing around.

“He was a lover and a giver,” Kim said. “He was a happy, happy,

kid.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].