A California ride-share driver who disappeared more than a week ago after picking up a fare has reportedly been found in a Los Angeles hospital.
The Los Angles Times reports that Joshua Thiede, 29, was found late Monday night at Good Samaritan Hospital, less than a mile away from where he disappeared. Los Angeles Police Department spokesman officer Greg Kraft said he could not confirm Thiede’s condition and when he arrived.
Police found Joshua’s black Nissan Altima on Monday in Koreatown after a resident called in because the vehicle had been sitting in the same spot for a long time, according to KABC. Later that day, officers were called to the 500 block of South Serrano after someone spotted a man resembling Thiede less a mile away from where his car was found hours earlier. There, they found a man who “needed medical attention,” the LAPD told the station, without specifying what type of medical attention he needed.
Police transported the man to the hospital, where he was identified as Thiede.
“Pending further information, investigators do not believe this disappearance is criminal in nature,” law enforcement said in a press statement.
We are extremely pleased to announce that Joshua Thiede has been found. He is at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles….
Posted by Janet L. Thiede on Tuesday, February 20, 2018
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Thiede was last seen at around 11:00 a.m. on February 11 in downtown Los Angeles on Wilshire Boulevard, located just north of the 110 Freeway. He reportedly had picked up a fare, a 15-minute trip through Lyft, on the day of his disappearance. His mother, Janet Thiede, claimed that Joshua had moved from Ohio to Los Angeles to start an organic shoe line and was driving for Lyft and Uber to make ends meet.
The mother also claimed that Joshua, or someone using his phone, had called 911 at around 2:30 p.m. on February 12 but the call abruptly ended before a dispatcher answered. The phone was subsequently traced to Venice Boulevard and Burlington Avenue but was later disconnected, My News LA reported.
“At this time, we do not have all the details. We are just extremely happy that he is alive,” the man’s mother wrote in a Facebook post early Tuesday. “We are continuing to ask the LAPD to investigate the circumstances that landed him in the hospital.”
[Featured Image: Joshua Thiede/Twitter]
