Radio show host Kasem found after dayslong search
Casey Kasem accepts a radio icon award during the Radio Music Awards Monday, in this Oct. 27, 2003 file photo taken at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. Santa Monica Police Department Sgt. Mario Toti said Kasem was located a few hours after his children filed a missing person’s report on Wednesday May 14, 2014. Kasem, 82, suffers from advanced Parkinson’s disease, can no longer speak and has been in various medical facilities chosen by his wife, Jean Kasem. AP
LOS ANGELES— Ailing radio host Casey Kasem was located in Washington state, three days after a Los Angeles judge expressed concerns about his whereabouts and safety amid a dispute between his wife and children from another marriage.
Kasem’s condition was not immediately known, although his children rejoiced after days of uncertainty and said in a statement that locating their father was the first step in bringing him back to the Los Angeles area.
Casey Kasem gained fame with his radio music countdown shows, “American Top 40” and “Casey’s Top 40,” and was the voice of Shaggy in the cartoon “Scooby Doo.”
Santa Monica police Sgt. Mario Toti said Kasem was located by the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday, hours after Kasem’s children filed a missing person’s report. Kasem’s daughter Kerri, who was appointed his temporary conservator at a court hearing on Monday, had to wait for court filings before she was able to file the report.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel S. Murphy ordered adult protective services and court investigators to try to locate Kasem after an attorney for his wife told the court that the former “Top 40” host was no longer in the United States but he did not know where he was.
Kerri Kasem’s attorney Troy Martin said during the hearing that Kasem had been moved to an Indian reservation but was not sure because he had been frequently moved from medical facilities.
“We are grateful to the local authorities for finding my dad,” Kerri Kasem wrote in a statement. “We are one step closer to bringing him home.”
Casey Kasem, 82, has been in poor health in recent years. Kerri Kasem’s court filings state her father is suffering from a form of dementia called Lewy Body Disease that had previously been incorrectly diagnosed as an advanced form of Parkinson’s disease.
Until Monday, Casey Kasem’s wife of 34 years, Jean, had been in control of his medical care and controlled access to him. She has blocked three of Kasem’s children from a previous marriage, including Kerri Kasem, from seeing him in recent months, according to court filings.
Danny Deraney, a spokesman for Kerri Kasem and her siblings, said the family still had “grave concerns” about Casey Kasem’s health.
Jean Kasem’s attorney Craig Marcus argued Monday that his client had the right to move her husband to any facility she saw fit. Murphy said he had the authority to order an investigation into Casey Kasem’s whereabouts and appointed an independent attorney and doctor to evaluate the radio host.
Murphy scheduled a hearing for June 20 to receive updates on Kasem’s health and wellbeing.
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