Missing Real Estate Broker Thankful for More Than Recent Deals

Ed Rosenthal, the veteran Los Angeles commercial real estate broker who’d been reported missing in Joshua Tree National Park, was found alive in critical condition after several days. His disappearance had raised concerns in the local real estate community given the triple-digit temperatures in the desert.

Rosenthal told colleagues he was going to Palm Springs to celebrate two recent deals—including the sale of Clifton’s Cafeteria in Culver City, Calif.—he had brokered. He set out on a hike in the national park.

Almost a week later, the 64-year-old Culver City, Calif., resident was found by rescuers in the East Wide Canyon area, about two miles from the national park’s southern boundary and was airlifted to a local hospital to be treated for injuries and the effects of exposure.

Rosenthal, who operates New Downtown Brokerage, is known as the “poet-broker” of downtown Culver City because he has been penning poems about the community for years, on topics ranging from historic buildings to business and civic personalities.