Almost 10 years. That’s how long Thomas “Randy” Gatewood hasn’t seen his family.
The 79-year-old Air Force veteran suffers from dementia and went missing from his home in Arizona back in 2007.
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“It’s almost unbelievable,” Randy’s brother, Gene, told NBC. “I hate to say it, but I thought he was probably deceased. That’s the story I’ve been telling family and friends for some time.”
Gatewood, a San Diego native, was tearfully reunited with his family over the weekend. Investigators found him in a nursing facility in the town of Lemon Grove in California.
Gatewood’s family were able to find him after getting some vital information during the first ever “Identify the Missing Day” event in the region.
At the event, a coroner tested Gatewood’s DNA against a national DNA database.
“I didn’t expect that to pay off, but I thought it was wonderful they were willing to go through that trouble and expense,” Gene Gatewood told NBC.
In the file, police were able to find out that Randy Gatewood had been admitted to hospital in 2011. Two addresses also popped up.
Gene Gatewood called both addresses and to his surprise found out that his brother was at one of the locations – a nursing home.
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Gene Gatewood said that call changed his life.
“I was absolutely flabbergasted,” he said. “My God, he’s alive and well and being cared for. [It was the] opposite of what I thought.”
The reunion was emotional, Gene Gatewood recalls.
“I walked over to him and said, slowly, ‘Randy, do you know who I am?’ He said, ‘yes, you’re my lil’ brother Gene,’ and he grabs my hand.”
Gene Gatewood said there’s a lot of catching up to do. The family will also try to piece together how Randy Gatewood went missing in the first place.