East Bay boyfriend eyed in Capitola woman’s disappearance
CAPITOLA — Bay Area police are investigating a missing Capitola woman’s case as a potential homicide.
The El Cerrito Police Department, which is leading the investigation, said that the family of Alice “Alyx” Kamakaokalani Herrmann, 61, reported her missing Dec. 12. The family had not heard from Herrmann for more than a week and she was last seen on Dec. 3 in Santa Cruz, according to police.
Hermann had missed her flight to Hawaii, scheduled for Dec. 12, according to Capitola police.
Police are treating Herrmann’s boyfriend, Theobald “Theo” Brooks Lengyel, of El Cerrito, as a person of interest in their investigation. Lengyel, who also goes by the name of Mylo Stone, allegedly drove his blue 1989 Ford pickup to Portland, Oregon, in the days after Herrmann’s disappearance and has “not cooperated with the police investigation,” according to El Cerrito police. Hermann’s red 2007 Toyota Highlander SUV was found outside Lengyel’s home.
Officers also have impounded both Lengyel’s truck and Herrmann’s SUV as part of the investigation.
Pamela Rivas said she was a friend who had spent years paddling with Hermann as part of the Outrigger Santa Cruz. Club members last saw Hermann during a Dec. 3 recreational paddle from the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor, Rivas said. Describing Hermann as “very sweet” and a go-getter, Rivas added that the nativeHawaiian woman brought the “aloha” spirit to the club. Hermann joined Outrigger Santa Cruz in 2017 and moved into its racing team in 2018, according to club treasurer and one of the club’s women’s coaches, Theresa Moulder.
“We’re all distraught and we’re all really worried that we haven’t seen her,” Rivas said. “We don’t know, we don’t know, but the circumstances being so mysterious and suspicious, we’re all worried. I’m worried.”
Extended police activity on Herrmann’s narrow, block-long Capitola street garnered significant neighborhood curiosity and concern, Capitola Police Capt. Sarah Ryan acknowledged. However, she said, her department’s role has primarily been to support El Cerrito’s investigation.
Capitola police officials worked with the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office last week to secure a court-ordered search warrant for Herrmann’s 43rd Avenue home on Thursday. Detectives accompanied the Department of Justice’s forensic specialists as they collected evidence Friday and the house was released from monitoring Saturday, Ryan said.
Ryan said it would be common for Herrmann to be in El Cerrito and not at her Capitola house, so an initial search of the house was to see if there were any signs of when she had last been there or if there had been any suspicious activities on the premises.
“So, we’ve done a thorough investigation surrounding her residence to assist (El Cerrito police), if there are any leads as to the timeline of when she was here, when she left,” Ryan said. “We know she’s not at her house.”
Investigators are asking residents who spend time in regional parks and open spaces to be on the lookout for anything suspicious that might lead to Herrmann’s whereabouts. Tips can be called into the El Cerrito Police Department tip line at 510-215-4435 or emailed to investigations@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us.