Key facts
- Name: Elaine Park
- Born: September 24, 1996
- Age at disappearance: 20
- Last seen: January 28, 2017, around 6:05 a.m.
- Location: 2600 block of Delphine Lane, Calabasas, California
- Height / build: 5’6″, 125 lbs, brown hair with blonde tips, brown eyes; Korean descent; tattoos (cow skull and moth on left arm, dagger and flowers on right arm, rose on left shoulder)
- Status: Still missing
- Investigating agency: Glendale Police Department
The 6:05 a.m. footage
The last image anyone has of Elaine Park is a frame of home surveillance video, timestamped around 6:05 on the morning of January 28, 2017. She walks out the front door of a house in Calabasas and crosses to her car. She does not look distressed. She gets in. The car pulls away.
She is never seen again.
Five days later, her charcoal-gray 2015 Honda Civic turns up on Pacific Coast Highway, just south of Corral Canyon Road in Malibu. The doors are unlocked. The keys are in the ignition. Her backpack, her phone, her computer, and cash are all still inside. There is no sign of a struggle. There is no sign of Elaine.
A car abandoned with everything in it and no one in it. That is the whole case, in one frame.
Who Elaine was
Elaine Park grew up in La Crescenta, just north of Los Angeles, raised by her mother, Susan. She was 20 years old, an aspiring actress and dancer who had appeared in small parts on shows like E.R. and Mad TV and in films including Crazy Stupid Love. She performed in dance companies and musical theater, and she was planning to attend Los Angeles Pierce College.
“She was a really great girl,” said Rosemarie Wheeler, a family friend who helped in the early search. “If there’s one word I think that describes Elaine, I think it would be resilience. She was just bright and lit up a room. And she had dreams.”
She also lived with depression, her family said — a fact that would later complicate every theory about what happened to her.
The night before
On the evening of January 27, 2017, Elaine drove to Calabasas to see Divine “Div” Compere, her on-and-off boyfriend. They went to a movie, then took an Uber back to his family’s home on Delphine Lane around 1:00 a.m. Compere lived there with his father, Shakim Compere, a longtime entertainment executive who co-founded Flavor Unit Entertainment with Queen Latifah.
According to Compere, Elaine woke around 4:00 a.m. shaking — he described it as a panic attack; in one account she was shaking and singing. He tried to get her to stay. She wouldn’t. Surveillance shows her leaving calmly at 6:05 a.m. and driving off. That is the last confirmed sighting.
Police have said Compere and his family were “completely cooperative.” He has never been named a suspect or a person of interest.
The investigation
When Elaine’s car was found on February 2, the search went into overdrive. Glendale police mounted what Sgt. Robert William later described as “exhaustive searches” — bloodhounds, cadaver dogs, drones, helicopters, all-terrain vehicles, divers, and search-and-rescue teams combing the area and ocean near where the car sat, plus the adjacent mountains. Nothing.
“None of those have led to any type of evidence to a crime,” William said. He added that investigators had found no evidence suggesting Elaine had taken her own life.
With the case going cold, Susan Park hired private investigator Jayden Brant, who worked alongside Glendale detectives. Brant released security footage of a vehicle in the area around 6 a.m. that morning and told reporters that new leads had taken the case “back to very active status.” Years later, he was still revisiting it. “It’s frustrating because I wish we could figure out what happened to her,” he said.
The reward money tells its own story about how desperate the family became: an initial $250,000 offer was extended and then raised to $500,000 by an anonymous donor. Susan Park never stopped. “Elaine, we will find you,” she said. “I can hear her voice every night saying, ‘Mom, please come find me.’ It’s heartbreaking. Something is going on. We have to find her.”
In 2021, the case reached a national audience when the podcast To Live and Die in LA devoted its attention to it.
Theories: what might have happened
She left in distress and something went wrong. The panic episode at 4 a.m., the depression history, the car found near the ocean — some have suggested she may have harmed herself or had an accident. What undercuts it: police explicitly said they found no evidence of suicide, and exhaustive searches of the land and water near the car found nothing.
Foul play after she drove away. The car’s condition — unlocked, keys in, valuables untouched — reads less like someone who parked and walked away and more like someone who was interrupted. People close to the case have questioned whether Elaine was even the one driving when the car left Calabasas. What undercuts it: no suspects have ever been named, no evidence of a crime has been found, and the last person to see her was cleared by police.
Voluntary disappearance. She walked out calmly on video; she was an adult. What undercuts it: she left behind her phone, computer, cash, and car — everything a person starting over would need — and has made no contact in nearly a decade.
Have information?
Contact the Glendale Police Department at (818) 548-3135, the case tip line at 1-800-551-3080, or Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- September 24, 1996 — Elaine Park is born.
- January 27, 2017 — Elaine visits boyfriend Divine Compere in Calabasas; they see a movie and return by Uber around 1:00 a.m.
- January 28, 2017, ~4:00 a.m. — Compere says Elaine wakes shaking, possibly having a panic attack.
- January 28, 2017, ~6:05 a.m. — Surveillance captures Elaine leaving the house and driving away. Last confirmed sighting.
- February 2, 2017 — Her Honda Civic is found on Pacific Coast Highway near Corral Canyon, Malibu — unlocked, keys in ignition, belongings inside.
- 2017 — Reward raised from $250,000 to $500,000; family hires private investigator Jayden Brant.
- 2021 — To Live and Die in LA podcast covers her case.
- January 2027 (upcoming) — The 10th anniversary of her disappearance.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Elaine Park still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Elaine Park has been missing for more than nine years. The Glendale Police Department case remains open, and her family continues to seek information.
Was Elaine Park ever found?
No. Neither Elaine nor any trace of her has ever been found. Her car was recovered on February 2, 2017, but it contained no clues to her whereabouts.
How old would Elaine Park be today?
Elaine was born September 24, 1996 — she turned 30 in September 2026.
What was found in Elaine Park’s car?
Her backpack, cell phone, computer, and cash were all inside the unlocked car, with the keys still in the ignition. Police reported no signs of a struggle.
Who was the last person to see Elaine Park?
Her boyfriend at the time, Divine Compere, who said she left his family’s Calabasas home around 6 a.m. on January 28, 2017. Police have said he was fully cooperative and he has never been considered a suspect.
Was there a reward in the Elaine Park case?
Yes. The family’s reward offer at one point reached $500,000 for information, after an anonymous donor increased the original $250,000.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: California Department of Justice missing-person listing for Elaine Park; Glendale Police Department statements (via MyNewsLA, 2017).
- News: MyNewsLA, “Where’s Elaine Park? Reward of $500,000 in Calabasas mystery” (Sept 15, 2017); internewscast.com, “Unraveling the Enigma: Three Crucial Clues in the Disappearance…” (retrieved Oct 2026).
- Reference: Uncovered, “Missing: Elaine Park” (https://uncovered.com/cases/elaine-park); Wikipedia, “Disappearance of Elaine Park” (retrieved Oct 2026).
- Media: To Live and Die in LA podcast (2021); The Murder Diaries, “MISSING: Elaine Park.”
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.