Elderly Man Who Went Missing at LAX is Reunited With Family

Walter Wenko, 70, had disappeared after arriving back home in Los Angeles on Monday after flying in from Cambodia, where he had retired after working as an immigration attorney.

An elderly man who went missing after flying into LAX has been reunited with his family.

Walter Wenko, 70, disappeared after arriving back home in Los Angeles on Monday after flying in from Cambodia, where he retired after working as an immigration attorney.

His stepdaughter Sandra Madera had been waiting for him at the airport, where she expected him to be wheeled into the arrival lounge on a wheelchair. His luggage arrived, but not him.

Wenko had taken a shuttle to Union Station instead, and went to eat at a Philippe's eatery, Madera said.

After he ate, he fell over a few times, and a taxi driver stepped in to help and took him to County/USC hospital for treatment.

"I guess during the course of his walking around downtown, he fell a couple of times," Madera said.

An off-duty employee recognized Wenko from an NBC4 report and told hospital staff.

When the pair was finally reunited, Madera said Wenko cried and told her he knew she would find him.

"There’s an army of people that care about him and me, and that made him cry," Madera said. "Last night I posted (that) I had been searching for him for seven and a half hours, and I felt so alone. I just want to get him back home. I want him to be safe."

Wenko was in stable condition at the hospital undergoing tests as of Wednesday afternoon.

The U.S. Embassy helped make arrangements for Wenko, a former immigration attorney from the San Gabriel Valley to return due to concerns over his health.

"He fell a couple of times and it seemed to cause a brain injury, and the only reason that we really know this is he began to behave differently. He was losing his memory, he was acting vague and distant," Madera said.

Correction: An earlier version of this article reported a nurse called NBC4 after recognizing Wenko, but a male off-duty hospital employee notified hospital staff upon seeing Wenko.

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