Rubidoux man reunites with family after many years

RUBIDOUX, Calif. (KABC) -- A family in Rubidoux is celebrating after a long-lost family member has reappeared after vanishing years ago.

It was a family reunion of five generations: little Cameron, who is just three months old, and his great-great grandpa Barney, who is just a few years from 100. And then there's Joseph "Joey" McCamon, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and has had a life of ups and downs.

"He was homeless, and he was living under bridges and he had gotten attacked," said McCamon's sister, Patti Byerly.

Byerly last remembers seeing her brother in a county hospital.

"We found out where he was, took him shoes, cigarettes, and visited with him," said Byerly.

But after that, he disappeared. There was no trace of him for more than 12 years.

"I started going on the website for the police department, looking at John Does descriptions," said Byerly.

McCamon's family says they thought he was gone for good. But someone did find him -- none other than his grandfather, Barney Ronspiez, who lives in a nursing home. Unbeknownst to everyone, Ronspiez happened to be just a few doors down from McCamon.

"I was wondering where he was at for a long time," said Ronspiez.

Last month, Ronspiez was just walking down the hallway one day at Mt. Rubidoux Nursing Center when he came across a sign that read, "Happy Birthday Joseph McCamon," and he remembered that name.

"He had the nurse call me right away, saying that he had found Joseph," said Ronspiez's daughter, Charlotte Thompson.

Family members say it was amazing and hard to believe, especially because Ronspiez has dementia and, at 54 years old, no one ever expected to find McCamon in a nursing home.

"Just when you figure you're going to throw in the towel, you get blessings like this. It's just amazing," said Byerly.