DENVER — A Colorado family is still in shock after their loved one left his Denver nursing home and was missing for days before eventually being found in medical distress in Sheridan and later dying.
Brandy Danforth remembers her husband of 19 years, Jon Danforth, as "of the kindest men I've ever met with the biggest heart."
Jon, 45, was a military veteran and was placed at Juniper Village, located in the 2200 block of W. 29th Avenue in Denver, by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, according to Brandy. He was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia and diabetes and had been living at the center for about a week following a diabetic coma.
Jon walked away from Juniper Village on Nov. 30. According to a Denver police report obtained by Denver7 Investigates, officers were dispatched to the nursing home roughly three hours after he "walked away from the center" through the west door.
"After about 32 hours, I start getting worried," said Brandy, remembering the days following Jon's disappearance.
By the morning of Dec. 2, Jon was found in "medical distress" inside a gated area of the Sheridan Public Works Facility — roughly 10 miles from the nursing home — and died shortly after, according to the Sheridan Police Department.
"I started screaming, crying, and going, 'No,'" said Brandy, reliving the phone call she received from the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office informing her Jon was deceased.
The weekend Jon went missing, temperatures reached as low as 18 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
"He was found in a pair of socks, no shoes, in the cold, freezing temperatures. He shouldn't have died that way," said Joel Danforth, Jon's twin brother.
Denver7 Investigates
Man found in distress at Sheridan city facility reported missing from Denver
Nearly two weeks later, Jon's family still does not have details about what exactly happened during the days Jon was missing, or how the nursing home let him walk out.
"I'm also hoping this will get nursing homes to get better security measures so this doesn't happen to somebody else," said Brandy.
Denver7 Investigates made multiple attempts to contact the nursing home, including by email, phone, and knocking on the door. No one responded.
The family is still waiting on an official cause of death.
