SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - A 77-year-old Tahoe Paradise man who was missing Monday afternoon was found Tuesday at the Ventura, Calif., Greyhound bus station after an intensive search.
Richard "Dick" Cunningham, who has a history of strokes and was recovering from a head injury, disappeared from his home sometime after 9:30 a.m. Monday. El Dorado County Sheriff's deputies and search and rescue volunteers began around 3:48 p.m. searching the woods behind Cunningham's home after his family reported the man missing.
The family told investigators that Cunningham enjoyed walking in the area east of the Lake Tahoe Airport and the Truckee River. Several witnesses placed Cunningham at locations from Pioneer Trail and Susquehana Drive to U.S. Highway 50 at Al Tahoe Boulevard, deputies said.
A credit card check Tuesday morning showed that Cunningham had bought a bus ticket to Ventura County. Greyhound personnel confirmed that Cunningham boarded the bus in South Lake Tahoe.
Deputy Todd Crawford said Cunningham once lived in Ventura and his family believed he might be trying to return to his old home. Cunningham was met by family at the bus station in Ventura.
"His mental state at the time was unknown so we treated his disappearance very seriously," Crawford said, adding that Cunningham was suffering from some sort of disorientation, possibly from his head injury.