Rico Harris facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rico Harris
Born	May 19, 1977 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Disappeared	October 10, 2014 (aged 37) Yolo County, California, U.S.
Status	Missing for 10 years, 9 months and 29 days
Nationality	American
Rico Harris Power forward Personal information High school Temple City, California Listed height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) Listed weight 300 lb (136 kg) Career information College Cal State Northridge Pro career 1998–2000 League International Basketball League

Rico Omarr Harris (born May 19, 1977 – disappeared October 10, 2014) is an American former professional basketball player. He was a great player in high school in Southern California. Later, he helped Los Angeles City College (LACC) win its first state junior college championship in 1997. After college, he played for teams in the International Basketball League. He also played with the famous Harlem Globetrotters.

Rico was the oldest of four children. His father was a basketball star at Idaho State. Rico stopped playing basketball for a while. But he returned to the sport for his last two years at Temple City High School. He quickly became a star player. People who watched him play compared him to Lamar Odom. He had chances to play for big NCAA Division I basketball teams. But he faced challenges that kept him from joining them. He chose to go to Cal-State Northridge. Many thought this choice would make it harder for him to reach the NBA.

Harris finished his time at Northridge early. He was suspended twice for breaking team rules. He later joined the Globetrotters. But an injury in 2000 made him stop playing after only one month.

By October 2014, Harris had moved to Seattle with his girlfriend. He had applied for a new job there. He was returning from his mother's home in Alhambra to finish his move. But he never arrived back in Seattle. He was last heard from when he left a message for his girlfriend. The call was traced to the Sacramento area. His car was found abandoned in a park in Yolo County a few days later. There were some possible sightings after that, but none were confirmed. A cell phone video from the night he disappeared was the last definite sign of him. Many searches have not found any trace of him. His disappearance was even shown on the TV show Disappeared.

Rico's Early Life

Rico Harris was the first son of Henry Harris. Henry was a star basketball player for Idaho State. After college, he played in a semiprofessional league in Los Angeles. There, he met Margaret Fernandez. Rico was born in 1977. His family later moved to Oregon.

The family moved back to the Los Angeles area. Rico's mother, Margaret, eventually left his father. She took the children with her to Alhambra. Rico often helped keep the family together while his mother worked. Margaret felt her oldest son was "born to play basketball." But by age 15, he had stopped playing. He thought about becoming an actor. He even went to Hollywood High School for a year.

After a year, Rico decided to play basketball again. He used his father's address in Temple City to enroll in high school there. This was for his junior year.

Rico's Basketball Journey

For most of his teenage years and twenties, people believed Rico Harris could play in the NBA. His best playing time was the 1996–97 season. He was named the MVP of the state community college tournament. He led his team to the state championship. But he only played one season for a Division I team. Even though NBA teams were very interested, he never signed with them.

High School Basketball

Rico was 6 feet 8 inches (203 cm) tall and weighed 215 pounds (98 kg). He was an instant sensation on the basketball court. His presence made the Temple City team much better. College scouts started coming to watch him play. "Other teams would double- and triple-team him," one coach remembered. "But you could just watch him for a couple plays and you could see the player he could be." Harris loved the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers teams. He tried to play like Magic Johnson.

Off the court, Rico was shy and struggled with school at first. But he met a girlfriend whose family helped him study. He improved in school and socially. He even got a 3.0 grade point average. On the court, he became even more dominant. He averaged 28 points and 15 rebounds per game in his senior year. The Press-Telegram newspaper in Long Beach said he was one of the best high school players in the Western United States. This was during the 1994–95 season. Other players on that list included Chauncey Billups, Paul Pierce, and Jason Terry. All of them went on to play long careers in the NBA.

Jim Harrick, a coach from UCLA, was interested in Harris. He thought Rico could be part of a strong team at the University of Rhode Island. But Harris did not do well on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Because of this, UCLA had to take back its scholarship offer.

College Basketball

Harris went to Arizona State. He had to take classes during his first year to become eligible to play. This rule is called Proposition 48. He struggled with school and being away from his family. The university asked him to sit out another year.

Playing for Los Angeles City College

Instead, Harris went back to California. He enrolled at Los Angeles City College (LACC). This is a two-year junior college. He hoped to improve his grades and play for Coach Harrick at Rhode Island. At LACC, Coach Mike Miller let Harris play his own way. He would shoot three-pointers and make amazing no-look passes. "He could do it all," a teammate said in 2014. "He was Lamar Odom before Lamar Odom."

Harris was the team's biggest star. He was often seen as the best player on the court. He averaged 16.5 points and 14 rebounds per game. NBA scouts started watching his games. They hoped Harris might skip college and go straight to the NBA.

LACC had a great season, winning 30 games and losing only 6. They won the school's first-ever California Community College Athletic Association state title. They beat San Jose City College in an upset. Harris was named the championship tournament's most valuable player.

A few weeks after this win, Harris signed a paper saying he would go to Rhode Island. But he stopped going to a psychology class he needed to pass. He failed the class. This meant he was still not eligible to transfer to a four-year college and play. Some people thought he failed on purpose. They thought he did not want to move to the East Coast, far from home.

Harris later visited UConn. An assistant coach there compared him to Donyell Marshall, a former UConn star. Harris told a newspaper that he had learned from his past. "This time around, I know exactly what I want," he said. He was still thinking about the NBA draft or playing overseas. "I'm in no rush."

Harris returned to LACC for his second season. He later said this was a mistake. He became less focused. The team did not win the state championship again. Harris was described as causing problems for the team. Coach Miller even suspended him for six games. Harris felt his teammates did not pass him the ball enough. "I have no excuses," he told the Los Angeles Times. "I was playing against my own teammates and coaching staff."

Harris declared himself eligible for the 1998 NBA draft. NBA scouts still saw his potential. They invited him to a special camp in Chicago. But Harris decided not to go. He also pulled out of the draft. He felt he was not ready for the challenge.

Time at Cal State Northridge

The chance to play for Coach Harrick at Rhode Island was still open. But in September 1998, Harris called Bobby Braswell. Braswell was the head coach at Cal State Northridge. Harris had met Braswell three years earlier. Harris told Braswell he did not want to move far away. He asked if he could play for Braswell at Northridge. It was closer to his family. He could transfer his credits and play right away.

Northridge had an open scholarship spot. Braswell immediately told Harris he could have it. Harris believed Braswell's strict rules were what he needed to grow as a person and player.

Braswell hoped Harris could help Northridge have a winning season. He wanted to win a Big Sky Conference title and go to the NCAA tournament. But others wondered if Harris would cause problems for team unity again.

Braswell was hopeful. "Rico wants to make the best of this opportunity," he told the Times. But early in the season, Harris faced challenges. Braswell briefly suspended him after he argued with teammates and coaches. A hip pointer injury also kept him out for five games.

He still played well, averaging 10 points per game. He also led the team in rebounds. But NBA scouts saw that his performance was not as good as before. They took him off their lists of future players. Near the end of the season, Braswell suspended Harris again. Harris did not go to a meeting with his coach. Harris never played college basketball again. He left Northridge soon after the season ended.

After College Basketball

Harris could not play for any other college. His time to play college basketball was over. He still hoped to make it to the NBA. He played semi-professional basketball. He played for short times with the International Basketball League's San Diego Stingrays and St. Louis Storm. Rapper Master P, who used to play in the NBA, put together a traveling team. Harris played a few games for that team. During this time, he worked on his jump shot. He hoped the NBA was still interested in him.

In spring 2000, Harris decided to join the Harlem Globetrotters. His skills were perfect for their shows. It seemed like he had found his place. But a month after he joined, he was injured. He had to leave the Globetrotters. At age 24, his basketball career was over.

Rico's Later Years

Harris moved back to his mother's house in Alhambra. He did not have a job. He also did not have plans for what he would do next.

A few years later, he moved in with a friend, Wilfredo Mayorga. He got a job working security detail in Bell. At a party, he met Jennifer Song. She was visiting from Seattle and worked as an insurance broker. They started a romantic relationship. In 2012, they began spending long weekends in each other's cities.

By September 2014, they were talking about getting married. They even discussed names for future children. Harris moved out of his friend's apartment. Soon after, Harris moved in with Song in Seattle. He planned to live there permanently.

Rico's Disappearance

Living together caused some small disagreements between Song and Harris. But Harris continued with his plans to start a new life in Seattle. He got a Washington driver's license. He also got a job interview for a position as a property appraiser. This job was important to him. It would be his first skilled job not related to basketball.

Before the interview, he decided to visit his mother and brother in Alhambra. Song believes he wanted to talk with them. She thinks he wanted to find some peace about his childhood. "I think he realized some things and he wanted to talk to [his mother]," she later told a reporter.

His brother spoke with him by phone during his drive to Southern California. He said Rico was happy. He hoped to marry Song and start a family. "He seemed to have his head together," his brother remembered.

His visit with his family on October 9 was short. He took one of his brothers out to eat. He gave him a new cell phone as a gift. Then he went back to his mother's home to talk with her alone. His mother felt he did not get what he hoped for from the conversation. Soon after midnight, he decided to leave. He took a few more personal items. His job interview was set for the next day in Seattle.

Leaving Alhambra, he drove north on Interstate 5. Records show he stopped in Lodi, about 40 miles (64 km) south of Sacramento, to get gas. At 10:45 a.m. on October 10, he called Song from north of Sacramento. He left a message saying he was going "up into the mountains to rest." He said he had not slept much. At 11:15 a.m., he turned his phone off. No one has heard from Harris or seen him since then.

The Investigation Begins

Song called Harris's mother when he did not return to Seattle. They waited a few days. By October 14, he had missed his job interview. They realized something was wrong. They reported him missing to the Alhambra police.

That afternoon, a Yolo County deputy sheriff saw a black Nissan Maxima car in a park lot. It had been there for two days. He looked inside and saw CDs, credit cards, and papers. The car was not reported stolen. Police found out who owned it. They told Harris's mother that his car was found, but not her son.

A search of the area around Cache Creek began. Search and rescue teams looked through the lightly wooded area. They used all-terrain vehicles and helicopters. An airplane with a special camera flew over. Search dogs were also used. They searched a five-mile (8.0 km) area around the parking lot. They also searched 27 miles (43 km) of Route 16 through the canyon.

After three days, they found nothing. Many people were surprised. Rico was 6 feet 9 inches (206 cm) tall and weighed 300 pounds (140 kg). They could not understand how such a large person could disappear completely.

When Harris's description was shared, a few people reported seeing him after October 10. One person said they saw a man like him walking along Route 16. Another driver thought they saw him sitting on a guardrail near the creek.

Harris's car was towed and searched. It was out of gas, and the battery was almost dead. Investigators found Harris's wallet and most of his credit cards. He had taken his phone and driver's license. Detectives also found two plastic bottles. One was mostly full of alcohol, and the other was empty but smelled strongly of alcohol.

On October 18, eight days after Harris's last message, another sighting was reported. A man told police he saw a large man wearing light-colored pants. This was similar to what Harris was wearing. The next day, fresh footprints were found. They were from size 18 sneakers, like Harris wore. They led from the parking lot to the creek.

Investigators also found Harris's backpack. It was by the side of the road, about 1,500 feet (460 m) from where he was reportedly seen. Inside were his phone, charger, and other items. The phone had pictures of the creek and some selfies. One selfie showed Harris in front of a sign welcoming drivers to Yolo County. There were also some videos. They seemed to be taken by accident. They showed Harris singing in his car. These videos were from the night of October 10. This showed Harris was alive and in his car at that time.

On October 22, the sheriff's office said they were reducing the search. Divers searched parts of the creek in mid-November but found nothing. The investigation is still ongoing. In 2016, the TV show Disappeared featured his case.

What Might Have Happened?

Dean Nyland, the detective working on the case, does not think Harris was harmed by someone else. The photos and videos on Harris's phone suggest he came to Yolo County by himself. There was no sign of a struggle in or near the car. His backpack and phone also did not show signs of being taken by force. Nyland believes Harris might have left them there himself. He might have done this by accident or on purpose, to avoid being tracked by his phone.

Nyland thinks Harris might have made a wrong turn after getting gas. He might have followed the road into the Yolo County hills. Seeing the parking lot, he might have decided to rest. Nyland believes that when Harris woke up, he might have decided not to continue to Seattle yet. "To him, this must have seemed like heaven," Nyland said. He showed a reporter the spot where Harris was reportedly seen. In the accidental videos, Harris seemed like "a free man."

Nyland believes Harris might have wandered around for a few days. Then he might have returned to his car and found it gone. At that point, he might have walked into the woods or toward another town. "We have no sightings, so he probably got a ride," the detective says.