Missing exterminator arrested in Reno

The curious case of Bryan Scobey, who disappeared from Sonoma in his company’s truck and was later reportedly selling tools for spare change in Yreka, has been solved. The 35-year-old Santa Rosa exterminator and part-time DJ was arrested Wednesday in Reno.

Bail has been set at $25,000. Scobey faces embezzlement charges in Sonoma County.

Reported missing from Sonoma on Jan 13, Scobey absconded with a Hitmen Termite vehicle and company gas card, and arrived in Yreka that same day. He ran out of money, reported Sonoma County Sheriff Sgt. Tim Duke, and began selling tools and other items from the company truck.

Police said he then cajoled a stranger into driving them, in the Hitmen vehicle, to Reno. Scobey then told the driver to keep the truck.

Scobey disappeared after his first appointment of the day, near Burndale Road and Fremont Drive. Both his wife and employer called police when Scobey failed to show up after work. A company GPS system tracked the vehicle to that location, but an exhaustive police and helicopter search of the area came up empty.

The GPS and Scobey’s company cell phone had been disabled about 8:45 a.m. The company gas card assigned to Scobey was used at 10:16 that morning at a gas station on Santa Rosa Avenue in Santa Rosa. He was in Yreka later that day, according Sheriff’s reports.