Father and Son Go Missing on Sailing Trip from Goleta to Hawai‘i

Local and federal authorities are asking for the public’s help in locating a father and son who have been missing since June when they set sail from Goleta on their way to Hawai‘i. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is also involved in the search.

According to the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office, 68-year-old Gerald “Storm” Talifero and his son, 14-year-old Adagio “Dag” Talifero, had possibly planned to make a stop in San Diego before heading to Hawai‘i. The whole trip was reportedly meant to last just a few weeks and be one-way, since both had airline tickets to return to California at the beginning of September. Neither Gerald nor Adagio boarded their return flights, records show, nor does it appear the flights were ever rescheduled.

The pair did not have a permanent home, authorities said. Most recently, they were known to be staying in Camptonville on a friend’s farm, before making several back and forth trips to Santa Barbara, Ojai, and Arizona. Their boat either belongs to a friend or had been contracted by Gerald to operate, officials said.

Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to contact the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Bureau at (805) 681-4150, or Detective Travis Henderson at tjh3806@sbsheriff.org.