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DENVER -- A 59-year-old man with Alzheimer's was hit by a car before the Denver Police Department sent out a tweet saying he was missing. The department tweeted about the crash saying one person was transported to the hospital, then posted a missing persons flyer several minutes later.
"It was a gut feeling," said Daniel Bramer as he describes finding out that his dad had wandered off.
His father, Dan Bramer, was diagnosed with early onset Alzeheimer's at 55-years-old. After the unexpected diagnosis, his wife made plans to retire early and take care of him.
More than a week after she retired, he was hit by a car and killed on April 8, 2017. They were at a retirement party and decided to go to nearby venue to watch live music. At some point, Bramer walked away.
"I just think he decided to come home and forgot to tell me," said Kim Bramer, his widow.
She immediately called their son and police. Officers responded but the family says they were told the case was a low priority because the DU hockey team won a championship that night and there were concerns about a riot.
"After they started hearing about DU winning the championship they started taking one officer off at a time to go get riot gear," said Daniel Bramer.
The family was still frantically searching when they found out Bramer was hit by a car on Federal Blvd. near 6th Avenue. He went missing in the area of North Broadway and Florida nearly four hours earlier.
Denver7 asked the police department if it issues senior alerts but a spokesperson said, "We do missing persons bulletins and that seems to be just as effective."
The man's widow and son are suing the city over the response that night. They are hoping for a change in Denver's policy when it comes to how the city handles missing cases involving someone with memory loss.
