Police Investigate 48-Hour Disappearance of Rap Figure

Police are investigating the possible assault and abduction of rap music entrepreneur Happy Walters, who was reported missing last week and found in Long Beach after a 48-hour search.

Walters, who manages the rap band Cypress Hill and owns Immortal Records, was found Saturday at the Long Beach Courtyard Marriott Hotel after a police officer recognized his photograph on a television news broadcast.

Los Angeles Police Detective Joel Brown said the case has been upgraded from a missing-persons report to a robbery and kidnaping investigation.

Walters could not be reached for comment, but police said the 27-year-old record chief told them he lost his memory after being struck on the head Thursday afternoon in the vicinity of an automatic teller machine near Pico and La Cienega boulevards in Los Angeles.

Police found Walters’ abandoned vehicle in Long Beach two hours after a gas station attendant found his wallet and notified his management firm.

Walters told police he woke up in some bushes in Long Beach on Thursday night, called a cab and checked into the Long Beach hotel under a different name. He apparently stayed in his room until Saturday, when he asked the hotel manager to help him.

Paramedics transported Walters to a local hospital, where doctors found nothing wrong with him. Brown said Walters was being treated by a doctor Tuesday and would be questioned by police later this week.