Within two hours of releasing a missing persons alert to the public on Saturday, 74 year-old Victor Bejarano was located and being returned to his family, according to Long Beach Police Department.

Officers responded to a residence in the 1500 block of Stanley Ave. at about 11AM in regards to a call about a missing elderly man. Bejarano was last seen by a neighbor sitting on the porch at around 7:30AM and had since wandered away from the house. 

In addition to being a diabetic and needing daily medication, family reported that Bejarano—a 5’3″ Hispanic male—walked with a limp and had the early signs of Alzheimer’s. LBPD immediately iniatated a search of the surrounding neighborhoods and local hospitals, but was not able to find the missing person.

A release was distributed to the press and community by about 3PM asking for help in locating the man and at approximately 5PM, another release was sent out stating that Bejarano had been located at his friend’s house in the area of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Pacific Coast Highway. He was evaluated by Long Beach Fire Department and released without incident to his family.

“Fortunately for this family, their missing relative was safely located and reunited with his loved ones,” the second LBPD statement said.”Unfortunately, not all missing person cases end happily, and we urge everyone with family members needing supervision to take measures to protect them from potential dangerous situations.”