Police sought the public's help today to find a Navy SEAL veteran last seen more than two weeks ago at his residence in the Chollas Lake Park area.45-year-old Johnathan Surmont 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.
Photo Provided By San Diego Police Department