SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Police sought the public's help Tuesday to find a Navy SEAL veteran last seen more than two weeks ago at his residence in the Chollas Lake Park area.
Johnathan Steven Surmont, 45, was last seen Aug. 27 and was last heard from when he contacted his ex-wife Aug. 31 to tell her he was in a "rough place" in Los Angeles, according to a missing person bulletin from the San Diego Police Department. His vehicle was found four days later, on Sept. 3, in La Jolla.
In a video posted to Vimeo dated three years ago, Surmont described himself as a disabled veteran who spent 15 years as a Navy SEAL.
"I was a SEAL sniper, communicator and unmanned systems expert," he said in a testimonial for the Red Circle Foundation, an organization that describes itself as supporting the families of fallen and wounded U.S. Special Operations forces.
"I'm a single father and a small business owner," Surmont said before describing a long list of injuries, which he said included "a traumatic brain injury" and "about 17 different areas that I'm experiencing chronic pain on a daily basis." Some of the injuries were apparently sustained during his time as a SEAL, while others occurred in a car crash.
"One of the things I struggle with is, I look fine," Surmont said with a laugh in a lighter moment of the mostly solemn testimonial. "With a traumatic brain injury, the struggle is the damage is on the inside."
In the video, Surmont helps dress his sons in Little League uniforms -- Padres jerseys and "SD" hats -- and is shown helping them warm up before a game.
Police say Surmont has missed several doctor's appointments and has not contacted his family or friends, which is "abnormal."
He's described as a 6-foot, 212-pound white man with brown hair and brown eyes. In photos and videos, he has a brown goatee and mustache with a thin chin-strap style beard.
Anyone with information about his whereabouts was asked to call the SDPD at (619) 531-2000 or the department's missing person's unit at (619) 531-2277.
