When radio icon Casey Kasem’s daughter filed a missing persons report Wednesday afternoon, she did not know that her father had already been located. The family learned that the 82-year-old suffering from a form of dementia had been found from the media late Wednesday night, even though police in Washington state found Kasem on Tuesday afternoon.
Sgt. Ken Dickinson of the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office told NBC News that deputies "performed a welfare check" on Casey Kasem Tuesday afternoon to make sure "he had his medications and was receiving proper medical care, which it appeared to be that he was. He appeared to be alert and in as good health as it could be. He didn't appear to be in any distress."
Although Dickinson would not say where the legendary disc jockey was located, his wife, Jean Kasem told police that "they were visiting friends," Dickinson said. The Sheriff's Office contacted Adult Protective Services in California to let them know Kasem had been found. Dickinson said he does not know why the agency would not have told Kasem's children that their father was safe.
Kasem was living at Berkeley East Convalescent Hospital in Santa Monica when his wife removed him from the facility on May 6 without letting his children know where they were going, according to the missing persons report filed with the Santa Monica Police Department. The original "Top 40" host is suffering from Lewy body dementia, according to his children.
Casey Kasem's children from another marriage have complained for months that they've been prohibited from seeing their father. In an interview that aired on TODAY on Tuesday, Kerri Kasem said she visited her father on May 6 for a few hours and that "he had a smile ear to ear and told us he loved us."
"When we went to leave, we said ‘Dad, we’re going to be back really soon.’ And he said ‘When?' That’s the last time I saw him," she said. "That night he was taken from the facility."
Law enforcement began searching for Kasem after a Los Angeles judge received conflicting information about his whereabouts during a hearing on Monday and ordered an investigator to find him. During the hearing, Kerri Kasem was granted a medical conservatorship over her father.
Jean Kasem, 59, is best known for her role on the '80s hit "Cheers." She and Kasem married in 1980 — she and the radio personality have a 23-year-old daughter.
Although his children are relieved to know where Casey Kasem is, "the family has grave concerns about his health and will do everything in their power to bring him back home," they said in a statement.
