In Loving Memory of Issa Albert Simon (08/28/1981 - 07/10/2012) written by Eliot Rausch "I'm not sure what keeps us above the surface. Above the darkness. Above the place of finality. An invisible line. On the edge of life. Slipping. Here. Right now. Delicate and fragile. It is my breath. A heartbeat. As I fight. As I surrender. To it's force. It's pull. Somehow it keeps me. Pushes me. Lifts me. Without me. Where there is no time. No line. No darkness. It is here. I understand. Here. Right beneath the surface." Searchers found the body of a Rancho Cucamonga man east of Barstow two days after he disappeared from a religious retreat. Issa Albert Simon, 30, was found dead at 5:40 a.m. Wednesday about eight miles from the St. Antony Coptic Orthodox Monastery, which sits on 360 acres in Newberry Springs. Friends last saw Simon about 7:30 p.m. Monday. He did not attend an 8 p.m. service at the monastery and was not seen the rest of the night or the next day. Visitors at the retreat called the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department on Tuesday and reported Simon missing. "They were concerned because the man had left his belongings behind," said sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman. Sheriff's personnel in helicopters swept across the remote desert area, trying to find any sign of the man. "That was probably the most important part of the search because we're talking about a large area of wide open desert," Bachman said. Search-and-rescue teams hit the ground later in the day and continued looking for Simon through the night, using trackers and all-terrain vehicles. Officials at the Fort Irwin National Training Center offered a helicopter to help with the search. About 3:15 a.m. Wednesday, members of one of the search teams found tracks and then spotted some marks where the man may have fallen, Bachman said. His body was found several hours later. Bachman said there is no evidence that Simon was the victim of foul play. Writer / Director / Editor: Eliot Rausch Director of Photography: Will Mayer Female: Maggie Lochtenberg Male: Mario Thornton Art Director: Tommy Petroni Voice: Sammy Petroni Music: Chihei Hatakeyama Song: Treads Echoing Far Away From Sea Coast Special Thanks: the Thomas Family and Sam Rosen from HKB
