PUBLIC ASKED TO AID IN SEARCH FOR MAN.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Investigators trying to locate a Palmdale man missing for more than six months are asking for the public's help.

Last seen July 11 at a Palmdale bar, David Warren Blanchard, 53, left behind a substantial amount of money, a mobile home and a vehicle, all recently inherited from his father, investigators said.

``After interviews with people who saw him last, some things have come to light that made us get out and start knocking on doors,'' said Detective Diane Harris, who works with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau's Missing Persons Unit. ``He could have had a hot shot of something or had too much to drink and wandered off into the desert. At this point, we don't know.''

Investigators say Blanchard had lived as a transient with no permanent place to stay. When his father died in June 2001, he came into a large amount of money, a vehicle and the mobile home in Palmdale.

Blanchard was known to have a drug and alcohol problem, deputies said.

Two weeks before he went missing, Blanchard withdrew a substantial portion of the inheritance money from his bank account. He was last seen at the Horseshoe Club on Sixth Street East by several customers, but none recalled him saying anything about going away, deputies said.

Initially, investigators believed he might have taken the money and gone to Mexico. But even relatives have not heard from him since July 11.

Anyone with information on Blanchard's whereabouts or who has spoken to him since July 11 is asked to call Harris or Sgt. Delores Scott at [phone].

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