A man who went missing 25 years ago and will be reunited with his family after turning up at a hospital was traveling across the US in a van when he disappeared.
Thomas Edward Manizak, now 53, nicknamed “Rumplestiltskin,” was traveling to Newport, Oregon, when he was last heard from on July 30, 1999, at the age of 28.
He called his mother from a truck stop east of Twin Falls, Idaho, as he did at least twice a week from the road to assure her he was safe and on his way to Newport.
But she never heard from her son again in her lifetime, as Manizak’s cousin said Saturday: “I wish his mother was still with us.”
Manizak lived in Doyle, California, with his mother, with whom he reportedly bonded “every few months when he wasn’t on the road,” before starting his trek.
He drove through Idaho, Oregon and Montana in his brown/copper 1970 Ford van, California license plate 87647D.
What happened to him during his 25 years off the grid is unknown, as he was unable to communicate when he was found in South Los Angeles on April 15.
He was taken to St Francis Medical Center in Lynwood and transferred to another hospital in LA in July.
Thomas Edward Manizak, now 53, was found and taken to hospital after being missing for 25 years. But he was non-verbal and couldn’t tell anyone who he was until his sister saw a news article about the search for his identity
Manizak (pictured before he went missing), nicknamed “Rumplestiltskin,” was en route to Newport, Oregon, when he was last heard from on July 30, 1999, at the age of 28.
One clue as to why he might be nonverbal was that the missing persons report at the time said he was on disability due to his diabetes, which required two insulin injections a day.
“Because of his diabetes, he renewed his insulin supplies at clinics in the cities he traveled through,” according to his Doe Network list.
“He did not take proper care of his diabetes and may have ended up in a diabetic coma… He did not request his disability checks or use his medical card for diabetes supplies.”
It was said at the time that Manizak loved to travel around the country in his van, camping somewhere off the highway every night and preferring dirt roads among the trees.
He had camping equipment with him and was very friendly, often picking up hitchhikers.
Manizak was listed as having brown hair, green eyes and standing 6 feet tall and weighing 150 pounds when he disappeared. By the time he was found, he had white hair and weighed only 125 pounds.
The Nor-Cal Alliance for the Missing, which had been searching for him since 2016 along with a now-deleted Facebook group, celebrated that he had been found.
“Although Tommy is non-verbal and faces medical challenges, his safe return to the embrace of his family is a testament to resilience, faith and the strength of community,” the report said.
“Tommy’s return proves that miracles can happen.”
After he was finally found, hospital social services were unable to reach any of his relatives for six months.
Manizak was found in South Los Angeles on April 15 and taken to St Francis Medical Center in Lynwood (photo)
Manizak called his mother from a truck stop east of Twin Falls, Idaho, as he did at least twice a week from the road to assure her he was safe — and was never heard from again
But on Nov. 22, a woman informed Lassen County Deputy Sheriff Derek Kennemore that the patient was her brother after seeing a photo of him at a hospital. USA Today article from May 9.
“The woman informed sheriff’s deputy Derek Kennemore that she had been sent a USA Today article with a photo of a man she believed was her missing brother,” said Capt. Mike Carney of the Lassen Sheriff’s Office County Tuesday.
“The woman explained that her brother was reported missing in 1999 from Doyle, Ca. The man has not been heard from since.
“The USA Today article was printed in April 2024 asking for help identifying the man, who was admitted to a hospital in the Los Angeles, Ca area.”
Officials soon contacted a detective from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit to confirm his identity.
The detective then fingerprinted the patient at the LA hospital and conducted a check.
The results showed that he was indeed the brother of the woman who was reported missing almost thirty years ago.
Carney said the family would be reunited soon the sister was ‘super excited’.
‘She really appreciated that we took the time to follow up. “She was over the moon and wanted to call other family members to let them know,” he said.
“It will make their Thanksgiving so much better.
“Be persistent when it comes to things like this because there are family members who want answers.”