A South Carolina man, who has recently been diagnosed with dementia, has been missing for the better part of a week after he got off his ship last Wednesday in Mexico and has not been seen since.
Family members of 66-year-old Bradley Solomon III are frantically searching for him and are gravely concerned about his safety, WCBD-TV reported.
According to multiple reports and the man’s family, Solomon joined several of his loved ones on a Royal Caribbean cruise.
On Wednesday, the ship docked in Cozumel, a city popular with tourists, which is where he went missing. Solomon went to use a restroom while the ship was in port.
NEW: A family is searching for answers after a Charleston man went missing while on vacation in Mexico earlier this week. https://t.co/pA4eSzTxVF
— WCBD News 2 | Count on 2 (@WCBD) April 5, 2024
When Solomon never came out, a family member went in after him only to discover that he was not there.
At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing a white t-shirt, grey shorts and a pair of sunglasses.
A local cab driver later told police in Cozumel that he had offered Solomon a ride on Wednesday afternoon and that the man did not have any cash.
Would you ever travel to Mexico?
He instead paid for the ride with his wristwatch and was dropped off near a beach access road, Mexico News Daily reported.
Solomon has not been seen since 2:30 p.m. that day, and his wife Mimi has remained in Mexico amid the ongoing search for him.
The man’s daughter Savannah Miller told WCBD that her father was recently diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and expressed how fearful she and others who love her father are about his safety.
“When my stepmom, Mimi, came out [of the restroom], he wasn’t there,” she said. “She thought he might still be in the bathroom, so she waited for him for a few minutes. He didn’t come out.”
Miller added, “That was the point that we knew he was lost.”
Frontotemporal dementia is the same disease that retired actor Bruce Willis and former talk show host Wendy Williams are both suffering from.
According to the Mayo Clinic, people who suffer from the debilitating form of dementia “can become socially inappropriate and may be impulsive or emotionally indifferent. Others lose the ability to properly use language.”
Miller said, “We know that no matter where he was he would have difficulty understanding what was going on and communicating his needs due to his dementia. I think everyone just immediately became so terrified for his safety.”
Solomon’s family is in contact with U.S. diplomats in Mexico.
Meanwhile, authorities in the general vicinity where he was last seen are scouring the area for him.
According to a GoFundMe campaign that has been set up to allow Solomon’s wife to remain in Mexico until he is found, the country’s military is leading the search.
That campaign was launched with a goal of $5,000 but had surpassed $20,000 from more than 240 individual donors as of Monday morning.
