Miljko Todorovic

Miljko’s story

In April 2013, Miljko Bertain Todorovic, 58, left a room he had rented in Dana Point only two weeks before. People who knew him believed he was going to Tijuana for dental work. He never returned. His Jeep was later found in a long-term parking lot in San Diego County near the Mexican border. His cellphone reportedly roamed in Mexico from late April to late May, then was cut off for non-payment. His family fears he met with foul play. [1][5]

Who Miljko was

Miljko was born on May 31, 1954. He was 5’10” and about 195 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, and sometimes wore a mustache. He also used the names Milko Todorovic and Milko Bertain. He drove a brown 1996 Jeep Cherokee with Washington, D.C. license plates (CW5528). He had moved into a rented room in Dana Point shortly before he disappeared, and lost contact with his family and friends after he left. [1][5]

What happened

• About two weeks before he vanished: Miljko rents a room in Dana Point.
• April 10 or April 21, 2013: he leaves the residence. He is believed to be going to Tijuana for dental treatment, a common trip for Southern Californians looking for cheaper care.
• April 25 to May 30: his phone is reportedly active, roaming on Mexican networks.
• After May 30: the line is disconnected for non-payment.
• By August 2013: his Jeep has been found in a long-term parking lot in San Diego County near the border. [1][5]

What this suggests, but doesn’t prove: the car’s location fits the plan to visit Tijuana. Many people drive to the border, park, and walk across. No border-crossing record or Mexican sighting has been made public.

What investigators have said

The Sheriff’s Department lists Miljko as a missing person and says his family is concerned he may have met with foul play, given his lack of contact. No dental X-rays are available for him. The public record doesn’t show whether family DNA has been collected. [1][4]

Where accounts differ

• The date. The Sheriff’s Department says he was last seen on April 21, 2013. The state DOJ and the Charley Project say April 10. NamUs gives April 10 in one field and April 21 in its narrative. If April 10 is right, there’s a two-week gap before the phone starts roaming in Mexico; if April 21, only four days. [1][3][4][5]
• His eyes and hair. Most records say brown and brown; one says black hair and blue eyes. [3]
• The Sheriff’s Department’s web page title misspells his name as “Milkjo.” [2]

Open questions

• When exactly did he leave Dana Point, and when did the Jeep enter the border parking lot?
• Which lot was it? Parking records could pin down the date he reached the border.
• Did he reach a dentist in Tijuana?
• Why D.C. plates? Where had he lived before Dana Point?

What you can do

• If you rented to, worked with or knew Miljko in Dana Point, Washington, D.C. or anywhere else, contact the Sheriff’s Department.
• If you work at a long-term lot near San Ysidro or Otay Mesa and remember a brown Jeep Cherokee with D.C. plates in spring 2013, that detail could fix the timeline.
• Research: Baja California’s forensic medical service (SEMEFO) handles unidentified remains in Tijuana. D.C.-area court and press records from 2013 may hold a separate missing-person notice.