LOS ANGELES — An Albanian athlete who disappeared from the Special Olympics in Los Angeles turned up safe early Monday 350 miles away in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Hayward, but mere hours later, a second Special Olympian went missing.
First, Andi Gusmari, 44, came to the Hayward Police Department on his own around 2 a.m. Monday and used a lobby phone to contact a dispatcher, acting Lt. Guy Jakub said.
Gusmari, who had his documents with him, was safe and comfortable but police were not able to communicate very well with him because of his speech disability, Jakub said.
But shortly afterward, police at Los Angeles International Airport were looking for a Shion Isimel. The Ivory Coast representative was last seen at 6:30 a.m. Monday at an airline ticket counter, police spokesman Rob Pedregon said. The French-speaking athlete is 15 years old.
A security camera photo showed he was wearing a black shirt with the words “Special Olympics.”
As for Gusmari, a bowling competitor, he had disappeared from the University of Southern California sometime after 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
How he traveled from Los Angeles to Hayward, east of San Francisco, remained a mystery.
“We all want to know,” Jakub said. “We’re glad he’s safe.”
Personnel from the Special Olympics were expected to come to Hayward to pick up Gusmari, but there were no immediate details, Jakub said.
Some 6,500 athletes from around the world took part in the Special Olympics, which used venues around the Los Angeles area.
The participants said goodbye Sunday in an emotional closing ceremony at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the centerpiece of the 1932 and 1984 Olympics.