Ex-Harlem Globetrotter goes missing during California road trip

A former Harlem Globetrotter has disappeared while headed from his home in Alhambra to see his girlfriend in Seattle, authorities said.

Sheriff’s deputies found 37-year-old Rico Omarr Harris’ abandoned black Nissan at the Yolo County Regional Parks Lower Site on State Route 16 near Rumsey in Northern California on Oct. 13 and haven’t heard from him since. His car battery may have died.

Harris was planning to move in with his longtime girlfriend in Seattle and had set out to visit her about 1 a.m. Oct. 10.

His mother, with whom he lived in Alhambra, told police that she last spoke to him at 9 a.m. that morning while he was driving through Sacramento, according to the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department.

Then at 10:45 a.m. Friday, he left a message on his girlfriend’s phone, saying he was OK and planned to get a meal and take a nap, KTLA reported. He hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

“He’s a very loving, enduring, charismatic gentle giant -- that’s what people called him,” his girlfriend, Jennifer Song, told KTLA.

Deputies have used all-terrain vehicles and an airplane in their search for the 280-pound, 6-foot, 9-inch basketball player at the park site.

“I miss my son,” his mother, Margaret Fernandez, told KTLA. “I am very, very sad.”

Anyone with details about Harris’ disappearance is urged to call authorities at (530) 668-5280.

For breaking news in Los Angeles and throughout California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA. She can be reached at veronica.rocha@latimes.com