Person of interest in August disappearance of Lucerne man arrested
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Authorities have arrested a man who they say is a person of interest in the August disappearance of a Lucerne resident.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Nova Maye Deperno, 26, a Lake County resident, was arrested in Occidental in Sonoma County on Thursday evening.
He’s believed to be connected to the disappearance of Ronald James Meluso.
Meluso, 63, was reported as missing to the sheriff’s office on Aug. 22, four days after he was last heard from, authorities said.
Meluso is believed to be a victim of foul play, the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities were seeking Deperno for assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism and brandishing a firearm, and he was considered armed and dangerous.
At 5 p.m. Thursday the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit Detectives developed information that led to the location of Nova Deperno at a residence in the 14000 block of Occidental Road.
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office SWAT team assisted the Lake County Sheriff's Office with taking Deperno into custody.
Deperno fled from the residence, and after a two-hour search, he was found by the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office helicopter, Henry-1, hiding under a tree canopy, officials said.
Deperno was booked into the Sonoma County Jail where he’s being held on $635,000 bail.
Jail records said he is due to appear in court in Sonoma County on Tuesday afternoon.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone who has information regarding Meluso’s whereabouts to contact Det. Jeff Mora of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 707-262-4224 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.