PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY — The search has been called off.
A 19-year-old British woman who was last seen nearly two weeks ago in Santa Monica was found Thursday walking along the Venice boardwalk with a transient, police said.
Acting on an anonymous tip, Santa Monica police went to the area of 30th Avenue and Ocean Front Walk and located Leona Dawn Perryman of Dorset, England. She has been taken to a local hospital to be checked out.
Detectives were interviewing Perryman Thursday to find out why she on Dec. 18 abandoned her traveling companion, Paul Alfred Atkinson, 45, who was the first person to report her missing. Atkinson initially cooperated with police but he himself came up missing. Police attempted to reach him at various numbers with no success earlier this week.
Atkinson was arrested Wednesday on a weapons charge after police were tipped off as to his whereabouts. Police said he was a person of interest in the missing person investigation but did not declare him a suspect. Atkinson was arrested at a restaurant in Venice for carrying a concealed knife.
Atkinson is scheduled to appear in court Monday. He is being held on $20,000 bail.
Atkinson told police Perryman had previously left for days during their trip without telling him where she was going, SMPD Sgt. Jay Trisler said. When Atkinson last saw her, she said she was going to an Internet cafe or the beach, Trisler added.
Police were optimistic they would find her.
The couple, visiting on a 90-day visa, has round-trip plane tickets and were scheduled to return to England on Jan. 7.
Trisler said media reports helped officers locate Perryman and Atkinson.
“The media has been outstanding,” Trisler said. “We’ve been getting calls from all over the place. Somebody saw the story and contacted us. When looking at this girl, she doesn’t really match her picture 100 percent, but somebody said it was her. … It’s been confirmed.”
