Police Ask For Help in Finding Palisadian Kayaker

Police asked for the public's help on Monday in clearing up the mystery of what happened to , saying he was kayaking off the Malibu pier, but hasn't been seen or heard from since.

The West Los Angeles businessman, identified as 66-year-old Louis Robert Piatt, called his girlfriend on Dec. 29 around 1:30 p.m. and said he was going kayaking alone. About 90 minutes later, he called 911 to say he was in the water and having chest pains, according to Los Angeles police.

from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to the Los Angeles Police Department because Piatt is a Pacific Palisades resident.

It was determined Piatt was 1 1/2 miles off the Malibu pier at the time the call was made. When emergency personnel arrived, a capsized kayak with a life vest attached was found, but there was no sign of Piatt.

A witness on shore reporting seeing a 30- to 40-foot motorboat leave the area at a "high rate of speed'' and then disappear into a fog bank just as a search-and-rescue helicopters arrived to look for Piatt.

The boat was described as having a dark-colored hull and a white superstructure, with a "fly bridge-type enclosure'' astern. The rear stern appeared to be "very wide.''

Piatt is describing as a balding white man with brown eyes, 5 feet 9 inches tall and 170 pounds.

Investigators want to talk with the crew members of the boat in the hopes of learning more about the businessman's disappearance. Anyone with information was asked to call Los Angeles Police Department Missing Persons Detective Carmine Sasso at (213) 996-1800.