I Have a Son

I'm afraid he might be in real danger or maybe he isn't. He's 18 and with his step brother who is also 18. They went to California for something to do. They both dropped out of school here and seemed to be content with bumming around. So they decided to go to California. My son has been there once to go to Disneyland and his stepbrother has never been out of the state of Oregon until now.
Now my step sons mom gets a call that her son is wandering the streets of Santa Cruz begging for someone to come get him and he's afraid he's going to get killed. He said he went a different direction than my son who is not answering me on FB chat. Now his step brother is not messaging or answering any call from his mom.
Last I heard from my son they were going to go camping on the beach. People are informing me since this all started this evening that the beach is where they don't want to go. My cousin who lives in San Francisco says it's not like what I'm worried about and since it's the off season for tourism it's really quiet in Santa Cruz. Everyone else is telling me the boys have walked right into a major gang area and are incredibly stupid to go there.
Am I overreacting and being small minded by stereotyping California as being a dangerous state to be in?