Family desperate for answers in search for missing 71-year-old LA man with dementia

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A local family is desperate to find a 71-year-old man who went missing after attending a concert at the Hollywood Bowl this weekend.

Harrison "Happy" Ferguson hasn't been seen since he attended a John Legend show at the bowl Saturday night with some friends.

He has dementia and is diabetic.

His family says he became separated from his group of friends at the concert after stopping by the bathroom. He then ended up on the wrong shuttle bus, which brought him to East Los Angeles instead of home.

He stopped into the sheriff's station at East LA College shortly after midnight and asked them for a ride home, according to family members. They said they couldn't drive him but offered him directions.

They haven't seen Ferguson since then.

His sister, Deidre Gilbert, is putting flyers up in the area.

"In my spirit, I believe that he's fine," Gilbert said. "That somebody is going to find him. And I know that there's more people than police. And I just ask that the community helps us to find him. He is such a sweetheart. He is just so sweet and so kind and so friendly. But I'm not sure that he'll ask for something to eat. I'm not sure that he'll do that. And I'm just worried about him."

Deputies with the East LA Community College station confirmed to Eyewitness News that Ferguson walked up to the front desk around 12:30 a.m. and asked for a ride to a location in Los Angeles.

He was told that deputies could not transport him but they offered to contact Uber. They say he declined and the officers provided him with a printout of directions to his home. They say they didn't observe any signs of dementia or other medical distress.

When his sister filed a missing persons report later in the day Sunday, deputies assisted with the search by contacting local hospitals and law enforcement agencies and patrolling the area to help look for him.

Anyone with information is asked to contact LAPD Officer Hendrickson at (213)996-1800 or provide anonymous information to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

A description and photo of Ferguson can be found in this LAPD flyer: