The remains of a missing 65-year-old man have apparently been found in Polk County.
Vincente Gutierrez is believed to have wandered off from Tender Loving Care Retirement Residence on Bon Air Street on Dec. 21. No one had heard from him since then.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office reports that people riding an ATV spotted the remains in a pasture off of Knight Station Road on Friday.
Gutierrez suffered from schizophrenia and dementia and had a history of wandering away from his parent’s home in Fort Meade.
"He would wander over to Bradenton, Hardee County and to Lake Wales, places where he used to go in the past,” said sister Juanita Garza of Bartow.
Gutierrez's family placed him in the assisted living facility last year.
Garza still has fond memories of her dapper young brother before mental illness took over. She would take him places he needed to go and it bothered her when people didn’t see him the same way she still did.
"Sometimes it would upset me because people just looked at him like he was a strange person,” she said.
Garza had told family members for years that her brother’s life may end with him wandering off and never coming home.
"I could feel it, you know," she said. "But at least he is at peace now."
Investigators do not suspect foul play. The medical examiner’s office said it will take several weeks to determine the cause of death.
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