Local News in Brief : Missing Tourist Found at Sepulveda Bank

Amentally handicapped Australian tourist who on Saturday strayed from his tour group at Universal Studios was reunited with the group Monday after employees of a Sepulveda bank recognized him, authorities said.

Norman Lawrence Ellis, 65, of New South Wales in southeast Australia, was discovered missing about 1 p.m. Saturday while on the Universal Studios tour at the Universal City entertainment complex, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Detta Roberts.

Employees of a Great Western Bank office in Sepulveda, seven miles from Universal Studios, notified police shortly after Ellis entered the bank about 1:30 p.m. Monday, Roberts said. The employees recognized Ellis from photographs shown on television news accounts of the disappearance, Roberts said.

Ellis, who was unharmed, told authorities he had spent the last two days wandering the streets, unsuccessfully trying to get back to Universal Studios, Roberts said. Ellis suffers from schizophrenia and Down’s syndrome, Roberts said.