Law enforcement personnel are still searching for a 36-year-old Olympia man who was last seen running from his burning vehicle near the Toledo-Vader Road exit on southbound Interstate 5 shortly before 6 p.m. on Oct. 25.
The man, identified as Gavin James Duran, was officially reported missing on Nov. 4. He reportedly left his girlfriend’s residence in a 2003 Chevy Silverado at approximately 11:23 a.m. on Oct. 23, while she was experiencing a medical emergency, according to police reports obtained through the Olympia Police Department.
“The fact that he left without helping her is completely out of character for him,” friends and family wrote in a missing person post on Facebook.
Duran’s girlfriend reportedly tried to contact his cellphone repeatedly between Oct. 23 and Nov. 4, but received no response.
Duran reportedly called 911 near the intersection of U.S. Highway 12 and Tucker Road near Ethel just before 11:10 p.m. on Oct. 24, according to a Washington State Patrol incident report.
During the call, Duran reportedly “claimed people were following him wanting to cause him harm and that’s why he is out there to begin with” and said he “thinks someone came up with a headlamp on and took all the stuff out of his truck but he’s not sure.”
A call log entry included in the state patrol’s incident report notes Duran was “possibly having a mental health episode.”
Duran reportedly has a history of mental illness, according to police reports.
A Washington State Patrol trooper contacted Duran at 2:25 a.m. on Oct. 25 near the intersection of U.S. Highway 12 and Tucker Road, according to the incident report. At the time, Duran reportedly declined help and advised the trooper “he would call his girlfriend or ‘(a) lady at the resource center’ to help him get gas tomorrow.”
Washington State Patrol troopers responded to a report of a vehicle on fire in a ditch between mileposts 59 and 60 on southbound Interstate 5 at approximately 5:35 p.m. on Oct. 25, according to an incident report. The driver, who is suspected to be Duran, was reportedly unconscious inside the vehicle when a witness made the initial 911 call, but “did wake up and took off running into the tree line” between 5:35 p.m. and 5:45 p.m., according to the incident report.
Search crews describe Duran as a caucasian male with black and gray hair and hazel eyes. He is 5-foot-9l and weighs 180 pounds. Both of his ears are gauged and he has several tattoos, including a bird on the left side of his neck, alien skulls on each pectoral, the words “HOLD FAST” across his knuckles, a circular design between his shoulder blades, an unspecified tattoo on the top of his right forearm, an owl under his right bicep and a semicolon and a bird design on his left wrist and forearm.
Anyone with information on Duran’s disappearance or current location is encouraged to contact the Olympia Police Department at 360-742-4953 and reference the case #2023-06964. Duran’s girlfriend is posting updates on the case on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554077888771.
