HOLLYWOOD — The family of a 68-year-old Hollywood man missing for three weeks is asking the public to help find him, saying he has untreated schizophrenia and has been without his medication since the day he disappeared.
Vernon Teague was last seen at about 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, when he left a residential care facility off Franklin Avenue on foot. He had moved into the facility two days earlier.
Mr. Teague is white, 5 feet 9 inches tall and about 150 pounds, with shoulder-length white hair and a full grey beard. He was last seen wearing a navy windbreaker, grey sweatpants and white sneakers, and is believed to be wearing a blue Dodgers cap. He is missing the tip of his left index finger.
He has been diagnosed with schizophrenia as well as other long-term mental health conditions, his family said, and did not take his medication with him. His daughter, Renata Ochoa of Van Nuys, said the family considers him at serious risk.
“Every day without his medication makes it worse,” Ms. Ochoa said. “He is not dangerous. He is a 68-year-old man who is sick, alone, and getting sicker, and he does not believe anyone who tries to help him.”
Posting videos while missing
Mr. Teague is believed to still be in the Hollywood area. Since his disappearance he has posted videos to a TikTok account, usually several times a day, most often filmed at night while walking.
In the videos, Mr. Teague frequently states that he is “in a secure location” and describes being pursued by the authorities, who he says are attempting to return him to the care facility or commit him to what he calls an asylum. Police have confirmed there is no operation of any kind seeking to detain him.
His family said the videos reflect his illness, not his circumstances, and that the account’s growing audience has made the situation harder, not easier. The account has gained a substantial following in the past three weeks, and many viewers appear to believe the videos are satire.
“People comment telling him to keep running. They think it’s a character,” Ms. Ochoa said. “It is not a character. Everything he says in those videos, he believes. That is what this illness is.”
The family has asked viewers not to encourage him, not to arrange to meet him, and not to repost the videos as entertainment.
No crime committed, police say
A missing-person report was filed with the Los Angeles Police Department on July 27 under report number DR 26-0612847, and the department confirmed the case remains open. Because Mr. Teague is an adult who left voluntarily and is not under a conservatorship, police say they cannot compel him to return, but are seeking to locate him and connect him with services.
A request for a Silver Alert, the state notification system for missing adults over 65, was declined because his general whereabouts are known from the videos, the family said.
The care facility said in a statement that staff followed state-required procedures on the day of his disappearance, including notifying the family, police and the state licensing agency, and that it remains in daily contact with the family.
What to do if you see him
Police and the family ask that anyone who sees Mr. Teague not approach, follow, film or attempt to detain him. He is not considered a danger to others, but he is fearful of being taken back into care and may leave the area if confronted.
Instead, note the time, location and direction of travel, and call the family’s tip line, which is answered at all hours, at (323) 118-7042, or the LAPD Missing Persons Unit, citing report DR 26-0612847.
Sightings reported so far have placed him near Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, on Franklin Avenue, and near the Cahuenga Boulevard underpass, most often between sunset and early morning.
“We are not trying to lock him up. We are trying to get him his medication,” Ms. Ochoa said. “If you see him, you don’t have to do anything except tell us where he is.”