Woman finds her brother missing for 25 years after spotting photo in news article

The man ‘voluntarily disappeared’ in 1999 (Credits: St Francis Medical Centre)

A long-lost man who vanished from a small Californian town in 1999 has been reunited with his sister after she spotted him in a news article.

The man, who has not been named to conceal his family’s identity, went missing ‘voluntarily’ almost 25 years ago from the town of Doyle, in Northern California.

Not one of his friends and family had heard from the man, believed to be in his sixties, in all that time.

But earlier this year, his sister recognised her estranged brother in a news article.

The man had been taken to the St Francis Medical Centre in the county of Lynwood, California, after being discovered in South Los Angeles.

The man was unable to identify himself at St Francis Medical Centre (Credits: St. Francis Medical Centre)

He was unable to identify himself to hospital officials or the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office though because he was in a ‘non-verbal state.’

So, the hospital service and the police issued an appeal to try and find the man’s relatives – and some six months later, his sister informed police that the man was indeed her brother after seeing a picture of him in USA Today.

The man’s sister had never forgotten him, and called the Sheriff’s Office on Friday, November 22, to let them know the news.

Deputy Derek Kennemore set about identifying the man by taking his fingerprint.

Lassen County SherIff’s Office were able to reunite the siblings (Credits: Lassen County Sheriff’s Office)

When results came back this week, it was confirmed that the man was the woman’s estranged brother who went missing more than 500 miles away from where he was found almost 25 years ago. The family are set to be ‘reunited soon.’

Following the miraculous discovery Captain Mike Carney of the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office told ABC: ‘She (the sister) was very excited.

‘She was very appreciative that we took the time just to follow up on it. She was over the moon and anxious to call other family members to let them know.’

Captain Carney called the reuniting of the siblings a ‘perfect example’ of why not to give on missing persons cases.

He added: ‘Be tenacious when it comes to these things, because there are family members that want answers.’

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