Former member of Mr Bungle named by police as a "person of interest" in missing person/homicide investigation

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By ( Louder ) published

Police in El Cerrito, California, are searching for former Mr Bungle musician Theo Lengyel in connection with the disappearance of his girlfriend

Theobald "Theo" Brooks Lengyel and Alice "Alyx" Kamakaokalani Herrmann
Theobald "Theo" Brooks Lengyel (left) and Alice "Alyx" Kamakaokalani Herrmann (Image credit: El Cerrito Police Department)

Police in California have declared former Mr Bungle band member Theo Lengyel a "person of interest" in an ongoing missing person/homicide case. Lengyel has been named in an online notification published by police in El Cerrito, a city in Contra Costa County, San Francisco. 

According to the notification, Lengyel's girlfriend, Alice “Alyx” Kamakaokalani Herrmann, was reported missing by her family on December 12 after she'd been out of contact for a week. 

Herrmann was last seen in Santa Cruz, CA, on December 3, and her car was discovered outside Lengyel's apartment, but authorities report that he has "not cooperated with the police investigation," and that both parties are currently being sought. Investigators have asked local residents who spend time in regional parks and open spaces to be on the lookout for anything suspicious.

Lengyel was a founding member of Mr Bungle, performing keyboards and saxophone on the band's early demos and first two albums, 1991's self-titled debut and 1995's Disco Volante, before departing.  

"We unanimously decided to go on without him because he wasn't growing with the rest of the band and we were running out of things for him to do," band founder Trevor Dunn wrote in 2005. "He got pissed off and I haven't heard from him since." 

Lengyel also appeared alongside fellow Mr Bungle member and Faith No More frontman Mike Patton on Charlie, the 1998 album by Japanese noise rock band Melt Banana. 

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Herrmann or Lengyel is encouraged to call the El Cerrito Police Department tip lines at (510) 215-4435.

Fraser Lewry
Fraser Lewry
Online Editor, Classic Rock

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.