A missing elderly man with dementia is being sought by Search and Rescue teams with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department (SDSO) after he walked away from his 4S Ranch home Thursday morning.

Deputies say Michael Becker, 78, was last seen at his home at 15217 Cayenne Creek Ct. at 7:45 a.m. and was reported missing at 9:45 a.m.

Becker is described as 6 feet tall, 200 pounds with grey hair and brown eyes, and is missing four front teeth. He may be wearing a baseball cap, a black and white long-sleeve plaid flannel shirt, grey pants, black suspenders and black shoes.

Becker's daughter told NBC 7 that Becker is in town from Arizona, but may believe that he still lives in New York. The family suspects that Becker may be knocking on doors of houses and wondering why he can't get inside.

Becker should be able to identify himself by name, the family said.

An SDSO helicopter is searching the area and making announcements from the sky.

If you spot Becker, please call the SDSO at (858)565-5200.

Check back for updates on this breaking news.

The Whole Foods market in Encinitas will close later this month, the company confirmed Thursday.

The Encinitas location will be one of nine stores to close, the company announced Wednesday on a Q1 earnings call.

Shoppers will have until February 22 to buy their groceries at the Whole Foods on South Coast Hwy 101.

“As we work to position Whole Foods Market for long-term success, we have carefully evaluated our portfolio of stores to align with a more thoughtful growth strategy," the company said in a written statement. "This was not a decision that was made lightly and we are working closely with all affected team members to find alternative positions at nearby stores where possible.”

Parents of students at Rancho Del Rey Middle School in Chula Vista are being notified of a possible classroom incident involving a teacher showing inappropriate content.

Manny Rubio, a spokesperson for the Sweetwater Union High School District, confirmed that a teacher at the school was removed, and that an internal investigation of the incident is being conducted.

Rubio said that the teacher has not been arrested and that police are not involved.

The school district does not anticipate having any new information the rest of the day.

Check back for updates on this breaking news.

Lab results revealed high levels of lead, copper and potentially deadly bacteria in the drinking water at one school in the San Ysidro Elementary School District, NBC 7 has learned.

District officials shut off the drinking water at La Mirada Elementary School following the results of tests on the drinking water. The drinking water has been turned off as a precaution at Smythe Elementary School and San Ysidro Middle School, officials said.

NBC 7 has obtained a test result that reveal levels of lead in the drinking water at La Mirada were nearly 18 times higher than the regulatory limit.

Also, a dangerous, even deadly bacteria that can cause dysentery was discovered in several areas of the elementary school on Avenida de la Madrid.

In October, a substance described as blue and murky was noticed coming out of the faucets during a pressure test, officials said.

The district shut off the water and hired a private firm to test if the water was safe to use for the staff and students.

Superintendent Julio Fonseca, Ed.D. sent a letter to parents on Jan. 26 informing them that recent sampling on January 23 showed “slightly elevated levels of lead at eight more fountains within the school and the presence of bacteria at two sinks and a fountain.”

One test, NBC 7 has learned, revealed lead as high as 267 parts per billion, when amounts over 15 parts per billion is the regulatory limit.

No amount of lead in water is safe but levels as high as 400 can cause immediate and acute health issues.

Copper results were 1,700 micrograms and 2,300 micrograms per liter of water. The regulated limit of copper is 1,300 micrograms per liter of water.

Students were being provided bottles of water at the three schools mentioned and all cooking is being done with bottled water.

La Mirada is located on Avenida de la Madrid and enrolls approximately 460 students in grades 3 through 6.

Smythe Elementary School on Smythe Avenue serves approximately 790 students in Kindergarten through Grade 3.

San Ysidro Middle School is located on Otay Mesa Road and enrolls approximately 640 students in Grades 7 and 8.

The district told parents it planned to replace the affected fountains at La Mirada by mid-February with a replacement of faucets and fountains at Smythe and San Ysidro by summer 2017.

The district serves more than 5,230 students.

The map above was created by NBC 7 Investigates to show where both licensed and unlicensed medical marijuana dispensaries are operating in San Diego County as of February 9, 2017. 

NOTE: The map is best viewed on mobile devices. 

Highlights of the map: 

• Areas in the cities of San Diego and La Mesa allowing medical marijuana operations are shaded on the map in zones colored “green.”

• Areas in the cities of San Diego and La Mesa where medical marijuana operations are prohibited are shaded on the map in zones colored “red.”

• Legal, licensed marijuana operations are marked on the map with a “green” pushpin.

• Unlicensed marijuana operations are marked on the map with a “red” pushpin.

• A filter allows you to toggle between viewing “licensed” dispensaries, “unlicensed” dispensaries or “both” at the same time.

• Another toggle option allows you to see where schools are located in comparison to dispensaries.

• Clicking on any individual map point (dispensary, school or zone) allows you to learn more about the location. 

NOTE: If map turns gray in an area, it is still loading. To fix the issue refresh your web browser. 

To create the map above, NBC 7 Investigates used data obtained through the California Public Records Act and the website WeedMaps.com. The data was last collected on February 9, 2017. 

Using permits issued by the City of San Diego and San Diego County, NBC 7 Investigates was able to map the locations of legal and licensed marijuana operations.

Using Weedmaps, described online as a resource to “find cannabis storefronts, doctors, and deals,” NBC 7 Investigates gathered location details for marijuana operations in San Diego County. By mapping the locations from Weedmaps and comparing the list of locations to city and county permits, NBC 7 Investigates was able to determine which marijuana businesses were legally operating and which were operating without a license. 

NBC 7 Investigates contacted each business listed to verify if it was operating. Dispensaries that require patients to call for an address, as indicated on WeedMaps, were not included on the map as their location was not published on a public website. 

NBC 7 Investigates has learned some of the unlicensed dispensaries labeled on WeedMaps as operating or open for business have recently been forced to shut down by law enforcement. On the map, those locations are indicated as being closed in the notes section of the individual pushpin. 

If you have an update on a location featured on this map, contact NBC 7 Investigates, NBC7Investigates@nbcuni.com or (619) 578-0393.

After three-and-a-half years, the material on the sectional Michael bought from Jerome’s Furniture started peeling away. 

“My wife would just rest her head here as we’re watching television and it started peeling right in here,” Michael Brininstool said. 

Michael showed NBC 7 Responds where his furniture problem started. “And it just comes right off and then you’ll find it everywhere, on the floor, the kitchen, the bathroom, and clothing,” he said. 

The chair, couch and ottoman are covered in what’s called “bonded leather.” NBC 7 Responds along with other NBC Consumer Units around the country have been reporting on consumers’ issues with “bonded leather.” 

Wanting to learn more about the material and why it’s widely used to make furniture, we sat down with Jerome’s Furniture CEO Brian Woods. 

“They take the excess leather and shred it up and it’s combined with basically a bonding compound on the back of a film paper to give it that leather look and feel,” Woods said. “It really gives customers that leather look and that leather feel at an incredibly affordable price.” 

Woods said “bonded leather” has been on the market less than ten years but makes up about 15-20% of his store’s leather furniture sales, including the sale to Michael Brininstool. Michael said he paid extra for an extended warranty but the warranty does not cover peeling leather. 

“This isn’t $10 thousand furniture but we don’t expect it to fail in three-and-a-half years,” Michael said. 

NBC 7 Responds showed pictures of Michael’s furniture to Jerome’s CEO. 

“It’s disappointing and my heart breaks to see this kind of thing,” Woods said. 

Woods told NBC 7 Responds “bonded leather” is durable but also delicate, having certain care requirements. “Once you have one small peel, just a tiny peel, then that’s it,” he said. “It’s very difficult to stop.” 

To educate their customers about the delicate material, Woods said Jerome’s created a minute-and-a-half video on how to care for the product. Woods said buyers are directed to it when they purchase anything made of “bonded leather.” 

To see the full video produced by Jerome's Furniture, click here.

When asked if customers are to blame for the peeling “bonded leather,” Woods replied, “I’m not saying they did something wrong, what I’m saying is that it’s delicate.” 

This is more than just a Jerome’s issue. According to import statistics from the United States Census Bureau, a majority of leather furniture imports, including “bonded leather” come from China and similar chairs and couches are sold throughout the U.S. 

Consumer Bob asked Woods whether or not Jerome’s is reconsidering selling products made with “bonded leather.” Woods replied, “I’m re-thinking how much of the assortment we have and making sure we’re diligent with the manufacturer quality with the assortment that we do carry.” 

As for Michael’s situation, he was originally offered a 10% refund for his peeling furniture but since we pointed out Michael said he had never seen the care video or any other care instructions, Jerome’s agreed to refund all of his money.

A driver led officers on a pursuit Thursday from the Serra Mesa neighborhood of San Diego to Scripps Ranch.

According to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD), a San Diego County Sheriff's court officer saw a vehicle driving away from the scene of a minor accident around 3:24 p.m. in Serra Messa.

The accident occurred on Murphy Canyon Road and Aero Drive.

The driver did not stop and led officers on a pursuit that ended on the 9800 block of Willowcreek Road. Police said the driver was arrested around 3:46 p.m. 

SDPD ran the license plate on the vehicle and discovered that it was stolen.

No other information was given.

A woman suffered a broken leg after another driver ran a stop sign and crashed into her motorcycle in University Heights, San Diego Police (SDPD) said.

The crash happened around 4:13 p.m. Thursday on the 2200 block of El Cajon Boulevard. 

Police said the driver of a pickup truck, identified to be a man, was heading northbound on Mississippi Street when he crashed into the motorcycle going eastbound on El Cajon Boulevard.

He initially fled the scene but later returned.

Check back for updates on this breaking news.

With the number of legally operating dispensaries selling marijuana for medical use growing in San Diego, data collected by NBC 7 Investigates shows the number of unlicensed dispensaries also continues to expand.

“It’s like the wild, wild west,” said David Blair, a professor at San Diego State University. He’s also the first business owner to obtain a legal medical marijuana dispensary permit issued by the City of San Diego.

NBC 7 Investigates mapped where marijuana operations are permitted and prohibited, as well as dispensary locations in the county.

According to the data, there are 71 marijuana businesses operating in San Diego County; 51 of those are unlicensed, while 20 are operating legally with a license. NBC 7 Investigates also found six dispensaries are operating within 1,000 feet of a school.

To view the map, click here. 

“Cities are having difficulty, not in operating dispensaries but in shuttering the illegal ones,” Blair said. 

According to Blair, the problem comes down to funding. 

NBC 7 Investigates reached out to every city in San Diego County to see how many dispensaries have been closed down in the past five years and how the cities are funding enforcement of marijuana operation laws. 

Officials with every city said they do not allocate a specific amount of money for investigating possible illegal dispensaries. Instead, officials said the funds come from general fund dollars if money is needed. 

To see how cities responded, click here.

“The problem is the illegal [dispensaries] have a lot of extra cash to stall the process, pay the daily fees, and just continue on,” Blair said. “These illegal dispensaries that continue to operate don’t pay taxes. They don’t pay their business taxes, they don't pay employee taxes, they're pretty much tax-free so they can afford to spend a lot of money for an attorney to protect their interests and that has an effect of slowing down the process in cities closing them down. It's an unfair playing field currently and hopefully by 2018, mid-2018, it stops and it changes.” 

California lawmakers have estimated when recreational sales become legal, the marijuana industry has a projected value of $7 billion with state and local governments eventually collecting $1 billion a year in taxes.  

Blair said he hopes that in the coming year cities will use the funds that come from licensed marijuana business taxes towards shutting down unlicensed dispensaries. 

“You want to close all the illegal dispensaries so you give a fair shot for those that have gone through the legal and civil process,” he said. 

The map created by NBC 7 Investigates includes data from the website WeedMaps.com, a popular mobile app and website, that according to its website, is designed to help patients “find cannabis storefronts, doctors, and deals.”

To learn more about how the map was created, click here. 

At least one person suffered major injuries after a rollover crash in Mira Mesa on Thursday.

According to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD), two vehicles collided around 4:11 p.m. on Calle Cristobal and Thomas Hayne Lane.

One of the vehicles flipped over in the crash.

No other information was available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news.

A 9-month old puppy is recovering after she was shot in the head in Alpine.

Her family said they posted a plea on Facebook after Nylah went missing around 3 p.m. last Friday. She was found nearly six miles away from her home near Japatul Road days later.

According to the family, Nylah had been beaten and there was a strange wound on her head.

NBC 7 spoke to Dr. Chamkaur S. Brar, D.V.M at Country Pet Hospital on Thursday. He treated Nylah for her injuries after her family found her.

Brar said the owner's husband initially thought the wound was caused by an animal attack but after an x-ray, they discovered the bullet in her head.

The family does not know who shot Nylah.

Fortunately, the bullet did not penetrate into the bone and her brain, Brar said.

“She’s lucky. She’s very, very lucky to survive," he added.

Brar told NBC 7, he believes Nylah slipped away from the owner's home because she was in heat but added that she is not an aggressive dog.

"The dog is very nice, not aggressive--very sweet dog," he said.

He added that he believes the shooter appeared to have the intention to kill Nylah.

The dog's owner told NBC 7, she has not filed a report with police yet since she is currently in Texas. 

She said she wants the person responsible to face animal cruelty charges.

The man accused of running over three people with his car in Pacific Beach in August pleaded guilty on Thursday.

Omar Gutierrez, 24, arrested in September for his role in an intentional hit-and-run collision on the 900 block of Garnet Avenue that injured three people.

One of the victims was former San Diego Chargers intern J'Ron Erby, 23, who suffered brain trauma and fractures to his skull.

Gutierrez pleaded guilty to one count of attempted premeditated murder, and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, according to his defense attorney Michael Begovich, and faces five to 17 years in jail.

Begovich told NBC 7 that "Mr. Gutierrez has accepted responsibility for his behavior and wishes the best for the victims in this case."

Gutierrez's co-defendant and girlfriend Jamillah Jones also pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the crime, and is facing probation and up to a year in jail.

San Diego police (SDPD) are investigating reports of a physical altercation following a traffic collision in the Birdland neighborhood.

Police say a traffic collision was reported at Cardinal Court and Cardinal Road at 6:22 p.m. Thursday followed by reports of a fight stemming from a possible road rage incident.

Officers are currently interviewing witnesses in an effort to gather more information.

SDPD and San Diego Fire-Rescue units are responding.

Check back for updates on this breaking news.

The Poway Unified School District (PUSD) is holding a series of meetings with parents this month do discuss budget expenditures, and potential cuts.

The meetings are part of the way districts show the state they are getting input from local stakeholders about how money is spent.

But this year, there is something else being discussed at these meetings.

For PUSD, it is what to do about a potential $24.5 million budget shortfall over the next two school years.

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“I don’t understand. We have the lottery. We’ve been doing all that," said grandparent Maureen Hobbs. "Why are the schools being cut?”

Part of the reason is Governor Jerry Brown's proposed budget in January cut guaranteed funding for schools. But the deficit could be less when Governor Brown issues his revised budget in May.

“We are doing the best we can with the numbers we have. Come May we are hopeful, but we don’t think it will eliminate all cuts. We still have to trim our budgets,” said district spokesperson Christine Paik. “In the meantime, there is a lot of concern and uncertainty.”

Parents and grandparents said they wish cuts could be made elsewhere besides in education.

But if there is a shortfall when it comes to school spending, they said the cuts need to be smart cuts.

Right now the district will look at saving money through early retirements, attrition, and not refilling positions that are vacated. Cuts may also include trimming supplies, reducing travel and conference attendance.

“At this point, we have not discussed layoffs, but in the larger scope of things, I don't want to take anything off the table,” Paik told NBC 7. “We like to reassure our staff though that we are doing everything we can to stay away from that.”

But Hobbs said that's not where the cuts should be made.

“Teachers are the most important," she argued. "It’s like fancy classrooms, fancy this or that, not so much. Teachers are extremely important. My daughter is a teacher.”

Foundations that support schools are also being asked to backfill. Parent Heidi Nangle said she would help, but added there is a larger issue that needs to be resolved.

“I don't mind temporarily or when they are in need of different things. I think as a community we should come together and try to resolve it," Nangle said. "Definitely there is a problem when we are paying taxes that are high and it's not resolved.”

Paik said parents should make sure their children attend school, because money is linked to attendance. Parents should also attend meetings being held this month to give the district feedback on how to deal with the budget challenge.

You can find information about meetings here.

“We are in this together and that’s why public input is so important right now," Paik said. "How can we do this together?”

A spokesperson from the San Diego County Office of Education said many districts will find themselves dealing with possible budget cuts.

San Diego Unified School District said layoff notices in March are likely.

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Immigration officials deported a mother who had been in the U.S. illegally since she was 14 years old on Thursday, in what some activists say is the first deportation under the new immigration policies of President Donald Trump.

Guadalupe García de Rayos was removed from the country to Nogales, Mexico after authorities attempted to deport her late Wednesday, NBC News reported. They were unable to move the van she was in because protesters were blocking it. One man wedged himself in the wheel well.

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"I think this is a direct result of the new executive orders that are being put into action, President Trump calling them enhancing public safety which really appears only to be attacking immigrant communities and attacking people of color," her attorney Ray Ybarra Maldonado said.

Ybarra said he and her family learned of her deportation through the Mexican consulate. García de Rayos, who has two U.S. citizen children, was convicted of criminal impersonation for using a fake Social Security number to work while illegally in the U.S. Ybarra added that, to his knowledge, there was not a victim in her case who claimed the number.

Dozens of flights were canceled or delayed Thursday night, due to heavy fog at Lindbergh Field and inclement weather in the East Coast.

According to a flight tracking website, two San Diego bound United Airline flights and one Jet Blue flight were diverted to LAX.

Flights paths were also affected by the fog--arriving flights were coming from the west and departing flights were heading out towards the east, which is opposite of normal directions.

According to a Lindbergh Field spokesperson, it is unknown how many flights are affected by the fog alone, due to East Coast weather impacting air travel as well.

San Ysidro residents are concerned over possible contamination of their water, after lab results revealed high levels of lead, copper, and potential deadly bacteria in drinking water at the nearby La Mirada Elementary School on Thursday.

The drinking water supply has been shut off at the school. Water supply at Smythe Elementary School and San Ysidro Middle School has also been turned off as a precaution. Students are being provided bottled water at those three schools.

Although there are no confirmed reports of contaminated water in nearby San Ysidro homes, some residents said they have a lot of questions about the water that comes out of the faucet.

"Sometimes the color changes when I open my faucet. It's not clear, it's like white," said resident Celeste Pereyra. "So we asked the place where we live and they say it's normal."

Several people NBC 7 spoke with said they also noticed discoloration in their water.

But a water department spokesperson said the drinking water quality in San Ysidro meets standards. The isolated issues of residents spoke of could be caused by compromised pipes in homes and apartments.

Some residents who have lived in area for years said the water is fine. Still, others said they are more comfortable drinking bottled or filtered water.

“We don't drink from the faucets, we buy our own water and then when I wash in my apartment, I have to make sure it's clean, because one time it was yellow," Pereyra said.

"I've always had a filter on my water, and then I re-filter it through a canister. I had a medical issue one time, and I decided I didn't want that issue again," said resident Pat Maloney.

Others told NBC 7, they would feel more assured if their water was tested for any problems.

“My house is maybe like a block away," said resident Adrian Gonzalez, speaking of La Mirada Elementary School. "So I would like to get the water tested in my house. I have five kids. It's dangerous."

But the city said if residents want to test the water coming from their homes, they will have to pay for a private testing service."

The San Ysidro School Board is attempting to reassure parents the water contamination problems detected last October are being dealt with properly.

On Thursday morning, NBC 7 learned that lab results revealed high levels of lead, copper and potentially deadly bacteria in the drinking water La Mirada Elementary School.

During a board meeting Thursday evening, Board Member Antonio Martinez drank water samples he collected from other schools in the district.

"I want to ensure the water in those schools that are running is safe and clean. I am going to drink from each one and I invite the board, if they want to salute with me, so that we know the water is clean,” Martinez said.

According to test results, the amount of lead discovered in the drinking fountains at La Mirada Elementary School was nearly 18 times higher than the regulatory limit.

La Mirada Elementary, Smythe Elementary and San Ysidro Middle school have the oldest pipes in in the district. No contaminants have bee found at Smythe Elementary or San Ysidro Middle School.

Since Jan. 23, the water was shut off at La Mirada and bottled water is used for cooking, cleaning and drinking. Water was also shut off at the other two school as a precaution.

The district blamed it's old infrastructure for the contamination. The superintendent said they are immediately installing new drinking fountains and pipes at the school.

“The question has always been how much does this cost? Is it going to cost us something that we can't sustain. Until we can figure out a long-term solution and a strategic plan of action to upgrade, that's what will do,” said Superintendent Julio Fonseca.

Hundreds of volunteers formed a human chain in the shallows of a remote beach in New Zealand as they tried desperately to save hundreds of pilot whales that have beached themselves there, NBC News reported.

About three-quarters of the whales had already died by the time they were discovered Friday morning at a place called Farewell Spit on South Island. The incident is being called one of the worst whale beachings in New Zealand's history.

An official from New Zealand's Department of Conservation said about 300 volunteers had joined conservation workers on the beach. She said rescuers had re-floated the whales at high tide and had formed the human chain to try to prevent them swimming back ashore.

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The Department of Conservation official said whale strandings occur most years at Farewell Spit, but the scale of this stranding had come as a shock. She said farmers and other locals were helping out and people were also arriving from other parts of the country.

Firefighters battled a brush fire that threatened a structure in Chula Vista Friday.

Chula Vista fire and police were called to National City Boulevard just after 5:30 a.m. with the report of a brush fire.

Officials said the fire was moving at a slow rate in medium to heavy brush.

The location is just east of Interstate 5 and south of Division Street.

No other information was available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news.