An 83-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease who had been missing for two days was found unharmed Friday afternoon asleep in a sleeping bag along railroad tracks in Harvey, police said.
Rufus Brunson, who lives in Country Club Hills, was reported missing about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday from the Lutheran Social Services of Illinois Home, in East Hazel Crest, where he had attended a senior citizen day-care program, said East Hazel Crest Police Chief Ray Robertson.
“About 12:50 we got a call from Harvey police saying they thought they had located him,” Robertson said Friday.
“When police found him, he said what his family and the center said he would probably say . . . that he thought he was in New Mexico and wanted to go to work,” Robertson said.
Brunson had worked as a border guard in New Mexico, but Robertson said he didn’t know how long ago that was.
Brunson was found in Harvey, near 147th and Wood Streets, Robertson said.
“He’s apparently been wondering around all this time. Somewhere along the way he picked up a sleeping bag,” Robertson said.
Brunson was reported missing from the Lutheran adult day-care center at 1920 W. 174th St., in East Hazel Crest.
Thursday, a Pace bus driver reported picking up the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Brunson about a block from the care center and dropping him off at 16th Street and Vincennes Avenue in Chicago Heights, Robertson said.
Brunson was taken to St. Francis Hospital & Health Center in Blue Island, where he was “in good condition and has been united with his family,” said spokeswoman Stephanie Rodas.
