San Antonio, Texas, Dec 17, 2007 / 08:20 am
Twelve hours after he was reported missing, retired Archbishop Emeritus Patrick Flores was found pumping gas at 3 a.m. at a West Texas convenience store, 200 miles from his home.
According to the Associated Press, Archbishop Flores was reported missing on Tuesday afternoon when he didn’t return to his assisted living facility, Padua Place, after a shopping trip.
Fr. Ed Loch, the archdiocesan archivist, said that Archbishop Flores “lives at the facility for retired priests who are in declining health. He has diabetes, difficulty with balance and a bad back — resulting from being roughed up when he was taken hostage by a distraught man in 2000.”
Twelve hours after he was reported missing, an officer responded to a call that a car was driving the wrong direction on the interstate near Ozona, Texas. Crockett County Sheriff Shane Fenton said that the deputy found Flores pumping gas.
"He seemed really disoriented and didn't know exactly where he was at," Fenton said. He was trying to drive home but didn’t realize he was driving the wrong way on the road.
Flores served as the archbishop for 25 years before retiring in 2005.