California man who disappeared in 1999 found alive 25 years later with sisters help

A California man who vanished without a trace 25 years ago was found alive more than 500 miles away over the weekend — thanks in large part to his sister who never stopped searching for him.The man, whose name was withheld for privacy, was located in a Los Angeles county hospital after his family reported him missing in 1999 from Doyle, Calif., the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.

His sister was sent a USA Today article seeking information about an unidentified and nonverbal man who had been at the St.Francis Medical Center in Lynwood for more than a month after officials found him in south LA on April 15, according to the sheriff’s office.

She believed the man in the photo of the article was her long-lost brother and called the Lassen County Sheriff to investigate.Sheriff’s Deputy Derek Kennemore contacted the hospital, but staffers there told him that the patient had been transferred to a different hospital in the LA area in July.

He called the second hospital, which confirmed they had a nonverbal and unidentified patient in their care who matched the description of the woman’s missing brother.Kennemore then alerted Los Angeles police and the missing persons unit who joined the investigation.A LAPD detective went to the hospital and fingerprinted the unknown patient.

The fingerprints were a positive match for the Doyle man who disappeared in 1999.Kennemore called the man’s sister to share that after more than two decades, her brother had been found safe at last.

The siblings will soon be reunited, the sheriff’s office said....