A California judge on Monday ordered an investigation be opened into the whereabouts of Casey Kasem. Kasem's wife's lawyer said the radio icon has been reportedly "removed" from the country.
According to the Associated Press, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel S. Murphy ordered a court investigator to look into the disappearance of Kasem and find out where he is being treated. Kasem suffers from advanced Parkinson's disease.The 82-year-old radio personality can no longer speak and has been admitted into several different medical facilities chosen by his wife Jean Kasem,
Jean's attorney, Craig Marcus, told the judge that he did not know exactly where Kasem was, but believed he has been removed from the country.
"Your statements concern me," the judge reportedly told the lawyer.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the former "Top 40" host disappeared from a Santa Monica hospital around May 6, following a visit from his children. Last year, Kasem's children from a previous marriage said their stepmother did not allow them access to see their elderly father.
"We're going to find him, take care of him and love him," Kasem's daughter, Kerri Kasem, said in an interview with the New York Daily News. "He's going to be with family, not stuck in some unfamiliar place where he's dying alone."
Marcus argued that Jean had right to move her husband as she saw fit, but Kerri argued the move violatedd the siblings' legal agreement regarding visitation. Kasem's family and friends blamed his disappearance on his wife.
Kerri was appointed temporary conservatorship of her father. Her attorney, Troy Martin, said the family has been lead to believe that Kasem was taken to an Indian reservation in Washington State. She told the Daily News that her father had recently been in a private care facility, but believed he was removed from the facility at Jean Kasem's request last week.
"One part of me is really happy (about the conservatorship), but the other part of me is still really worried," Kerri said. "I'm just praying to god she hasn't hurt him. He's very ill and fragile right now. He would need an airplane with special medical services."
