A decades-old missing person case was solved after a mystery man was brought to a hospital and identified after a desperate search effort.
The situation was realized on Nov. 22 after a woman saw an article in USA Today covering a nonverbal man who was being treated at a Los Angeles, California, hospital.
USA Today published the public call for help after the man was hospitalized in April.
“Officials at the St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, California have been unable to identity a patient they discovered in South L.A. on April 15,” a May 9 USA Today article read.
“The patient cannot communicate his name or any other information that could help with his identification, according to a news release. Staff could not offer more information on his health status due to patient confidentiality laws.”
USA Today could not list the man’s name, but the outlet said he was believed to be in his mid-60s. The site also stated that he stands about 6’1″ tall and weighs around 125 pounds.
A woman reading the article believed she recognized the man as her missing brother and contacted the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office, according to the Lassen County Times.
The woman’s brother went missing in 1999 in Doyle, California.
Deputy Derek Kennemore took the call, but he was unable to find the man at the original hospital.
With a little investigating, he discovered the man had been moved to another facility in July. After contacting the second location, the deputy was able to confirm this hospital had the nonverbal man.
Kennemore reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit and was able to work with a detective to visit the hospital.
There, the LAPD detective had the man fingerprinted.
The results showed he was the woman’s missing brother, ending a 25-year-mystery that had been gnawing at the family for decades.
Woman finds missing brother after 25 years by spotting him in news articlehttps://t.co/ApHB2gmJQG pic.twitter.com/YXRehsyZpP
— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) November 28, 2024
The Lassen County Sheriff’s Office celebrated Kennemore’s persistence in seeing this man reunited with family.
“The Lassen County Sheriff’s Office would like to commend Deputy Kennemore on his tenacity with this case,” LCSO Captain Mike Carney wrote on Facebook.
“We would also like to thank the Los Angles Police Department for their assistance in identifying the missing man and closing out this 25 year old case.”
While the family has not seen the man since he went missing, they will soon be reunited with him. All names are currently being withheld to protect the privacy of the man and his family.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
