Ahmad Solaiman Nourzaie

Nourzaie, circa 2016; Shireen Ahsan

  • Missing Since 01/18/2016
  • Missing From Santa Cruz County, California
  • Classification Lost/Injured Missing
  • Sex Male
  • Race Asian
  • Date of Birth 10/27/1990 (33)
  • Age 25 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'9, 190 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A gray or black zip-up hooded sweatshirt, a tan button-down shirt, dark-colored pants and white sneakers.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Asian male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Nourzaie goes by his middle name, Solaiman. He had a beard at the time of his disappearance.

Details of Disappearance

Nourzaie was last seen at Bonny Doon Beach at Coast Dairies State Park in Santa Cruz County, California on January 18, 2016. He was a student at the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) at the time of his disappearance, and went to visit the beach with four other UCSC students.

Three of them used a rope to scale down a cliff, and while they were standing on a rocky outcropping in ten- to fifteen-foot surf, they were all swept into the ocean. One of them was able to swim to safety, but Nourzaie and another student, sophomore Shireen Agha Ahsan, never returned to shore; they disappeared.

A photo of Ahsan is posted with this case summary. Over a week later, her body was found at Strawberry Beach, a remote beach in Wilder Ranch State Park, five miles south of where she and Nourzai went into the water.

Nourzaie's body has never been recovered, however, and he is presumed to have drowned. He was a senior at Kresge College in UCSC, majoring in earth and planetary sciences, and active in the campus's Muslim community.

Investigating Agency

  • Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department 831-454-7600

Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated March 23, 2017; casefile added.