Veteran Not Immediately Reported Missing From Memory Care Facility Found Dead On Highway

The Travis County Medical Examiner in Austin, Texas, identified a veteran's body Thursday after it was found on a major city highway.

The man was identified as Coast Guard veteran Paull Patterson, 76, who had gone missing from the North Austin-based memory care facility Colonial Gardens 10 days prior.

The Austin Police Department (APD) told CBS Austin that a voluntary searcher had found the body on the MoPac Expressway, a major city highway, on Wednesday. The APD also said the body was located within feet of where detectives and Search and Rescue had previously searched.

Amber Russell, an attorney representing the Patterson family, alleged that Patterson followed a staff member out the door of the facility on Nov. 6. Russell also claimed that Patterson, who suffered from dementia, was not reported missing to the APD for seven hours.

"That means for seven hours, this man [Patterson] was allowed to walk. In what direction, no one knew," she said.

The Patterson family requested surveillance video from Colonial Gardens but they were told their cameras did not work.

The Patterson family plans to sue the memory care facility.

Russell told Fox 7, "There's a lot of legal hurdles that we have to jump through first, but we intend to pursue this to the full extent."

Russell continued, "We want the facility to be held responsible for what happened, and we want to make sure this doesn't happen to anybody else."