(PIX11) – An elderly man that went missing from Long Island College Hospital last week has been found at a home in Fort Pierce, Florida, authorities have confirmed to PIX11.
81-year-old Celso Heredia went missing from LICH last Wednesday. Fort Pierce police say Heredia is in good condition and are investigating how he made it all the way to Florida with no money or identification.
As PIX11 first reported, Herdia — who does not speak English — was admitted into LICH on June 15th after he was found wandering along the BQE.
Heredia — like many other patients at LICH — faced an unclear future as the hospital has been fighting shutdown for months.
The hospital diagnosed him as having an “altered mental status.”
SUNY Downstate spokesman Bob Bellafiore — who would not confirm or deny Heredia was the missing LICH patient — told PIX11’s Mario Diaz, “We’re glad Mr. Heredia is home.”
LICH is scheduled to transfer the remaining patients out of the hospital at 10 p.m Sunday, an NYPD source said.
