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A Spanish man who worked as a professional mountain climber and guide remains missing in Eastern Humboldt. Ivan Liñan Cano, 31, was reportedly struggling with mental health issues and paranoia on Nov. 28 when he attacked the friend who was driving a car in which he was a passenger on State Route 36 near Carlotta. The pair had apparently tried and failed to find mental health help for Liñan Cano in Eureka, according to a report on Redheaded Blackbelt. After an altercation, Liñan Cano left the vehicle and ran off into the woods. He has not been seen since.

According to an official report sent to the Journal from Liñan Cano's nephew, Norberto Ibanez Liñan, the men had been working at a cannabis cultivation site near Mad River in Trinity County. Liñan Cano's behavior prior to the episode was "strange," according to the report, and was exacerbated after he smoked marijuana and tried LSD.

Law enforcement searched for Liñan Cano for four days in the Swimmer's Delight area, where his friend saw him run into the woods. They also followed up on leads that Liñan Cano had checked into a hotel near Garberville with no success. Family members in Spain recently hired Humboldt private investigator Chris Cook to investigate his disappearance. Norberto Liñan calls the situation "very difficult and desperate."

According to Melva Paris, records manager for the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office, Liñan's name does not appear on the California Attorney General's list of missing persons as he is not believed to have been a victim of homicide. The Journal has been attempting to figure out what the standards are for a missing person to appear on the Attorney General's database, as not all of the cases on the site involve suspected homicides. Attempts to reach a public information officer at the AG's office have proved unsuccessful but we will update this post if we receive more information. For more about the challenges of investigating missing persons cases in Humboldt County and the possible reason for our very high number of reports, check out this week's cover story and additional reporting by Kym Kemp on Redheaded Blackbelt.

From the Humboldt County Sheriff's official press release:

Linan had an airline ticket to Spain out of the Oakland airport scheduled for 8 p.m. on Nov. 29. According to the airline, he did not board the flight. Linan may be en-route to the Bay Area.

Ivan Linan is described as a light complected male, in his 40’s, approximately 5′ 08″ tall, 165 pounds, thin build, brown hair, brown eyes, “reddish” colored mustache/beard. He was last seen wearing a black, “mountain jacket”, dark colored waterproof “mountain pants”.

Anyone with information regarding Linan’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251.