LEWISTON — A Lewiston man reported missing Friday was found Saturday night as he wandered down outer College Road in Lewiston toward the Greene town line.
A call from a passerby came into police dispatchers just before 9 p.m. Saturday indicating a man matching the description of Claude Hopkins, 64, of Lewiston, was walking along College Road toward Greene.
Police intercepted Hopkins in Greene, near Lane Road, approximately three miles from where he had most recently been seen.
He was transported to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center for observation.
“He appears to be in good health,” Lewiston Police Lt. Kelly Hamel said Saturday.
Hamel added that the caller recognized Hopkins from a Sun Journal Facebook post and called police immediately upon seeing the man walking up the road.
Later in the evening, Brian Buteau, of Greene, identified himself as the person who located Hopkins. He shared a video to the Sun Journal’s Facebook page of the encounter.
“(He was on) College Street in Greene,” Buteau told the Sun Journal. “For being missing 25 hours, the guy was moving fast. On a mission, for sure.
“I drove by and said to myself, ‘Something isn’t right with this guy.’ Then I quickly realized who it was, called 911, and the rest is a happy ending.”
Hopkins, who police said is about 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs around 175 pounds, was last seen Friday evening wearing a blue shirt and red shorts and carrying a colostomy bag.
The last known sighting of Hopkins was at the end of Jenkins Street in Lewiston, about a half mile from Hopkins’ home, at a dead end in the road near a wooded area.
Lewiston Police Sgt. Wayne Clifford said earlier Saturday that the Maine Warden service was out all day, at times with canine tracking units, with no luck in finding the missing man. He was “confident Hopkins (was) not in the wooded area we thought.”
They were searching in and around Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary and the reservoir abutting the sanctuary’s land at the end of East Avenue, up the hill from the street where Hopkins was last seen.
College Road, where Hopkins was found, is in the opposite direction.
“It’s a happy ending,” Hamel said.
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