Radio legend Casey Kasem has been found in Washington state, his family confirmed Thursday.
The Kitsap County Sheriff's Department found Kasem, 82, just hours after his daughter Kerri Kasem filed a missing person's report in Santa Monica, California on Wednesday.
"We are grateful to the local authorities for finding my dad," Kerri Kasem said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press. "We are one step closer to bringing him home."
Casey Kasem, who was the voice of the character "Shaggy" in the cartoon "Scooby-Doo," had been missing for a week since he was last seen in his Santa Monica nursing home. The former "American Top 40" host's health has deteriorated in recent years, including a diagnosis of a form of dementia called Lewy Body Disease, according to Kerri's court filings obtained by the AP.
Casey's children suspected their stepmother Jean, his wife of 34 years, took him to an Indian reservation in Washington, the New York Daily News reported. Jean Kasem, who was in control of her husband's medical care, has reportedly prevented his children from seeing their father for the last several months.
Now that their father has been found, his children's main priority is caring for Casey's health. A Los Angeles County judge granted Kerri temporary conservatorship after a court hearing on Monday. Jean's lawyer said at the hearing he suspected Casey was not in the U.S. but that he did not know where he was, the Daily News reported. The judge ordered an investigation into Casey's whereabouts.
The disease has left the radio icon unable to eat on his own and diminished his ability to speak.
"I worry immensely that he's not getting the right medical attention," Kerri previously said, the Daily News reported. "He has to be in a facility with 24-hour care. Traveling causes great stress, fear and confusion for someone in my dad's state. It might be taking a tremendous toll."
It was not immediately known what condition Casey is currently in, the AP reported.
