Woman’s brother vanished in 1999, CA cops say. Then she sees his photo in newspaper
A man vanished from a small, rural Northern California town in 1999.
Family reported the Doyle man missing, the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office said in a Nov. 25 Facebook post.
For more than two decades, the missing man’s case remained stagnant; the family never heard from him again.
But now, thanks to a USA Today article and the work of a sheriff’s office deputy, the man has been found, closing the door on a 25-year-old case.
Despite the passage of time, the man’s sister never forgot.
She called the sheriff’s office Friday, Nov. 22. with a hunch.
The sister told Deputy Derek Kennemore that someone sent her a USA Today article that included a photograph of a man that looked like her missing brother, deputies said.
The story, printed in April 2024, was about a man admitted to a Los Angeles hospital, requesting help to identify him, according to deputies.
Kennemore called the hospital.
However, hospital staff told him the man had been transferred to another hospital in the area in July.
He “was non-verbal and had never been identified,” hospital staff told Kennemore.
The deputy called another hospital.
This time, though, hospital staff confirmed they had a patient that matched the description of the missing man.
After speaking with the Los Angeles Police Department, Missing Persons Unit, one of their detectives made their way to the hospital, deputies said.
The detective fingerprinted the man, leading to a positive identification.
The man sitting in a Los Angeles hospital bed was the woman’s brother reported missing more than 500 miles away in 1999, according to deputies.
Kennemore contacted the woman to let her know of the positive identification, and “the family will be reunited soon,” deputies said.
“The Lassen County Sheriff’s Office would like to commend Deputy Kennemore on his tenacity with this case,” deputies said. “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.”
In an emailed statement to McClatchy News, Caren Bohan, USA Today’s editor in chief, called the family’s story “the epitome of service journalism and reaffirms our mission to enrich the communities we serve.”
“During this season of gratitude, we are extremely thankful our coverage reunited this family,” Bohan said.
McClatchy News reached out to LAPD and is awaiting comment.
Deputies said they will not be identifying the family.
Users on Facebook were awestruck by the family’s story.
“How amazing for the family,” one user said. “The outcome you hope for but rarely see.”
Others called the closure “a beautiful gift” for the family.
“This brought tears to my eyes,” a Facebook user said. “What a blessing.”
This story was originally published November 26, 2024 at 8:26 AM.
