A man who had been missing since 1999 will be reunited with his sister as a result of a USA Today article, authorities in California said on Monday.
The man, who appeared to be in his mid-60s but could not communicate his name, was booked at a hospital in Lynwood, California, after being found in South Los Angeles in April of this year.
The USA Today article, written by Anthony Robledo and published in May, featured an image of the man and asked readers to call the hospital’s social services office if they recognized him.
The hospital’s social services department also put out a press release to “connect him to his loved ones soon,” USA Today reported at the time.
According to a press release from the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, a woman who saw the article reached out to the sheriff’s office on Nov. 22 and claimed that the man was her brother who had been reported missing in 1999.
Sheriff’s Deputy Derek Kennemore then “contacted the hospital and was told that the man was transferred to another hospital in the Los Angeles area in July 2024. The man was non verbal and had never been identified. Deputy Kennemore contacted the second hospital who confirmed that they had a non-verbal, unidentified man in their care that matched the description of the missing person,” according to the release.
Through fingerprints, authorities were able to confirm the man was the woman’s brother who went missing 25 years ago.
“The family will be reunited soon. Names in this case have been withheld for family privacy,” the sheriff’s office said.