Missing Convalescent Home Resident Found

A 94-year-old man who was believed to have wandered away from a convalescent home Monday afternoon, prompting a police search, was found Tuesday morning sleeping peacefully in the home, but not in his own bed.

Staff from the Canoga Park home alerted police after Earl Wake, who has Alzheimer’s disease, turned up missing during a bed check.

Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division set up a command post in front of the home with a sergeant and six officers. Police scoured the area, distributing his picture to residents and checking surrounding streets and late-night diners.

Wake was discovered sleeping in bed after another check, just before police were to issue a media advisory, seeking the public’s help in locating Wake, said LAPD Sgt. Bill Maarschalk.

“Apparently, they didn’t look at faces and just bodies and beds [last night],” said Maarschalk. “This morning . . . lo and behold he was found sleeping in a bed other than his own.”