Alzheimer’s patient missing after leaving work

Deepa Bharath

A 43-year-old Newport Harbor Yacht Club worker with Alzheimer’s

disease was reported missing Friday after he didn’t come home from

work on Thursday night.

Guadalupe Trujillo Acevedo of Tustin, a custodian at the yacht

club, left work at about midnight Thursday, said Kim Bailey, director

of education at the Alzheimer’s Assn. Of Orange County, where Acevedo

gets treatment.

Tustin Police said Acevedo’s wife reported her husband missing at

about 9:40 a.m. Friday. Officials said he was last seen leaving the

yacht club.

Bailey said Acevedo may have been confused by a few offramp

closures while driving home.

“His wife said she went out looking for him and that he knew how

to drive back and forth between work and home only,” she said.

“That’s a very dangerous situation.”

Bailey said Acevedo was unfortunately not enrolled in the Safe

Return Program, a national program that helps identify, locate and

safely return patients who wander.

“We know that at least 60% of Alzheimer’s patients wander once if

not multiple times,” she said. Bailey said studies also show that 46%

of patients may die of hypothermia or dehydration if not found within

24 hours.

Linda Scheck, chief operating officer of the association, said it

is a more dangerous situation when an adult gets lost because “he

doesn’t appear lost.”

“He’s just driving around or parking his car and walking around,”

she said. “He probably won’t admit he’s lost either because he may

feel embarrassed about it. That’s why this is a crisis.”

Bailey said Acevedo is one of their few patients who has been

affected by the disease at a younger age.

“Patients like him have been able to retain their driving

privileges,” she said. “But in Guadalupe’s case, it was late at

night, he was at work, and being exhausted probably exacerbated his

confusion.”

Acevedo was driving a white 1990 Toyota Tercel, license plate

number 2XYS658. He is 5-foot-5, weighs 153 pounds and has black hair

and brown eyes. He was wearing a beige shirt with the Newport Harbor

Yacht Club logo and his first name, Guadalupe, on the front.

He was also wearing blue Dockers slacks, a dark sweater and brown

tennis shoes. His California driver’s license number is C3183087.

Anybody who sees or comes into contact with a person matching

Acevedo’s description is asked to call 911.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.