Family flew man with dementia from L.A. to England, then abandoned him there, authorities allege

Fifteen months ago, an elderly man with an American accent was found wandering around a British bus station parking lot disoriented.

It took much detective work, but authorities now say that man is Earl Roger Curry, a 76-year-old Whittier man suffering from dementia. Los Angeles County officials and a British police investigation now allege he was simply dumped in England by his son during a visit, a charge his son, Kevin Curry, denies.

Curry was returned to the United States by British authorities last year and is now in a Bellflower nursing home.

“I’ve never seen one like this before. I have been in the business for 20 years: a U.S. citizen abandoned in another country,” said Connie D. Draxler, the deputy director of the L.A. County Office of the Public Guardian. “There are rarely cases of granny dumping, but I don’t know of any so dramatic.”

The case has generated intense interest in England this week after the BBC aired a documentary examining his case.

According to documents filed in probate court by the Office of the Public Guardian, the county is seeking conservancy of Curry. “No one in his family is prepared to accept responsibility for him,” the document stated. “His own wife and son abused him when they took him overseas only to abandon him there.”

In several documents, the public guardian alleges that his family in November 2015 simply left him in England. The BBC interviewed Curry’s son, who denied he had anything to do with abandoning him. The Times could not reach family members.

No criminal charges have been filed in the case.

For months, Curry sat in a nursing home in Hereford, the heart of England, as British police scoured the world with Interpol’s help.

All he could recall was his name was “Roger Curry,” and investigators knew he was tall, slim with gray hair and a squint, and spoke with a North American accent, according to Britain’s West Mercia Police.

He was found on a Saturday evening wearing newly purchased clothes from British retailer Tesco: a black hoodie, black jogging pants, black socks and running shoes, police said.

With few clues, investigators made several international public appeals for help identifying the man. In March 2016, British police took it one step further and made an appeal to identify a man seen with “Roger,” describing him as in his 40s with combat style trousers and black boots. According to West Mercia police, he was walking “Roger” to the local hospital. In a social media campaign, the police used the hashtag #RogersLostIdentity to spread the story on Facebook and Twitter.

Web sleuths around the globe began searching for answers. One woman came forward to say she believed he was Earl Roger Curry. She posted a picture of the man.

Authorities finally figured out who Curry was after the arrest of a 50-year-old man British man in April 2016 on suspicion of kidnapping Curry. He has not been charged.

That man, identified as Simon Hayes, admitted that when he found Curry and flagged down an ambulance in Hereford, he was not a stranger, according to court documents filed by the public guardian.

“Mr. Hayes confessed that he lied about finding Mr.Curry,” wrote the public guardian attorney William C. Sias in probate court records. Curry’s son and wife had brought him to England to be hospitalized, Hayes told British investigators. “Mr. Hayes confessed that Kevin Curry had instructed him to claim that he had found Mr. Curry wandering in the streets.”

Hayes could not be reached for comment.

Authorities figured out that Curry lived in Whittier, where some neighbors told the BBC that he often roamed the neighborhood in a disoriented state. He returned to L.A. last July.

While arranging for Curry to be brought back to the U.S., the L.A. County public guardian’s office learned the details of the British investigation, Draxler said.

Curry, a former registered nurse with Kaiser Permanente, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and required total care, the public guardian said. He is residing in a board and care home in Bellflower because he has nowhere else to go.

The public guardian is seeking a conservancy for Curry. The agency said the Social Security Administration suspended sending his benefits to his relatives as a result of “suspected elder abuse and abandonment.”

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has appointed a temporary conservator to look after Curry’s interests and assets. In court documents, county lawyers noted several other relatives are unable to care for his needs. A judge will decide in April whether to appoint a permanent conservator to ensure Curry’s well-being.

richard.winton@latimes.com

Twitter: @LAcrimes

ALSO

Air board hears proposals to toughen smog-reduction plan but delays action

Latino gang member accused of targeting African Americans in Highland Park is captured — 15 years later

Fake news: Social media reports of deportation checkpoints false, designed to cause panic, authorities say