Family, friends, law enforcement searching for 82-year-old who disappeared

It’s not unusual for John Silveira to walk away from St. Francis Assisted Care home in Turlock.

“He’ll go across the street to the store, and once he walked to his doctor’s office,” said his son, Bret Silveira. But the 82-year-old, who suffers from dementia, didn’t come back Saturday afternoon.

Family, friends and law enforcement members have been searching for him since. John Silveira last was seen about 1 p.m. Saturday near the home in the 100 block of 20th Century Boulevard. He was wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a brown hat when he was last seen, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department.

The sheriff’s department, coincidentally, is where Bret Silveira works, as a custodial deputy assigned to the Police Athletics League. “Bret is always trying to help people out,” said Sgt. Anthony Bejaran, a department spokesman. Silveira’s Facebook page shows regular shared posts for missing people.

This time, it’s him looking for someone, and Silveira said where his dad could be is a complete mystery.

John Silveira spent 40 years as a meat cutter for Dairyland Market in Hilmar, where he lived. He has a sister in San Jose and a friend who visits him regularly — Bret Silveira said he’s checked with both of them and they haven’t heard from him. The friend visited the elder Silveira a couple of days ago and remarked how well he looked, Bret Silveira said.

Bret Silveira said his dad is in pretty good physical shape — “He loves to dance,” Bret Silveira said. And he can be ornery.

“When he started living here, the staff asked him if he was like that because of the dementia,” Bret Silveira said. “Nope, he’s always been like that.”

John Silveira has lived at St. Francis since last August. And though he didn’t like the idea of assisted living, he realized he needed it, his son said. St. Francis staff has been in constant touch, and Bret Silveira said he doesn’t blame anyone at the home.

“It’s not a locked facility,” he said. “They’ve been great.”

He also said his colleagues at the sheriff’s department and Turlock police have been actively searching for John Silveira. He said he has walked into several local businesses to look and they all said people have been in with his dad’s photo.

“People keep calling, asking what they can do and where they can look,” Bret Silveira said. “We literally have no idea where he could be.”

Authorities ask anyone who sees Silveira to call 911.

This story was originally published May 7, 2017 at 12:30 PM with the headline "Family, friends, law enforcement searching for 82-year-old who disappeared."