Missing Keller man, 77, found safe in Alpine

UPDATE: James Louis Hopkins was found safe in far West Texas, police said Tuesday. He was found in Alpine in Brewster County, about 470 miles away. The Silver Alert has been canceled. 

Keller Police issued a Silver Alert Monday for 77-year-old James Louis Hopkins, who has Alzheimer’s disease.
Hopkins was described as a white male, 5-foot-9 and 144 pounds. He has gray hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a blue and gray polo shirt and tan pants. He has a scar on his chest from heart surgery.
He was last seen at 11 a.m. Monday on Eastwood Drive in Keller driving a silver 2006 Nissan Sentra, Texas license plate HFS419. There is a USGA bumper sticker on the back.
Law enforcement officials believe his disappearance poses a credible threat to his health and safety.
Anyone with information is asked to call Keller Police at 817-743-4522.
-- Marty Sabota

Comments

[Older AND Wiser]

Kids, do your elderly parents a favor..take the keys away. They will be angry, maybe dispossess you, never speak to you again. But you would you rather get a call they are dead in accident, or would you rather know can pick up phone and call them...even if they hangup on you

[Healthy]

The man is grown if he doesn't have any type of demintia you better not take his keys away. He will get you for abusing an eldery person. I am 73 and I went to DC last year just because I could. I had never seen the capital so I took off. I was threatened with being put in a home and psychic hospital. it cost my kids a ton of money and the judge said I could go anywhere I wanted. Now I don't want to have anything to do with the idiots. Watchout what you do to your parents we have rights just like they do.

[Neither older nor wiser]

Thank you, Healthy. I am only 51, but I agree whole-heartedly. The elderly have rights too. Kids taking the keys away to make the kids feel better is not only unethical, it is grounds for law suits. My parents are in their 70s and are better drivers than the average driver I see on the roads. If you suspect a problem, talk to them before you act.

[caring youngster]

I am only 32 and want to remind you "older and wiser" that YOU TOO will grow old.. you too will see the day that someone will think they are smarter than you and have the right to take away your keys... it is a sad day that someone could live to be 77 and have all rights and freedoms stripped away because that is more convenient than investing and caring for each other..

[It's Tough But Sometimes Necessary!]

Older and Wiser, I AGREE because the article CLEARLY said he has Alzheimer’s as does my father in-law who caused a couple of car accidents AND disappeared for a day, wandering and lost, before we had to disable his car, which didn't stop him from walking away, but made the public much safer. No one says take the keys when people are still capable. But when there's dementia/Alzheimer’s, yes, it is a sad day, but it IS time to take the keys.

[Sage49]

I am 62, do not need glasses to drive, and have had a perfect driving record since the age of 16. As a responsible citizen, I must accept the fact that someday my driving and mental skills may begin to fail me and at that time, I could pose a danger to myself and others. If my loved ones approach me and suggest there's a problem, then I'm going to have to suck it up and accept the fact, that there really is a problem and figure out a way to deal with it. Driving is not a right, or a constitutional freedom. A driver's license is a privilege, hinging on the abilities of the driver. I don't want to be that old person who puts her foot on the gas pedal and drives through a storefront or the lady with dementia who ends up in a ditch under the bridge because I got confused and forgot where the shoulder of the road is. When it's time to turn in my keys, I pray that I will have the clarity and the grace to trust the people who love me.