Photo of Special Olympics athlete Andi Gusmari courtesy LAPD
A Special Olympics athlete missing from USC since last Saturday, turned up in Hayward — more than 350 miles north in the East Bay today. Yesterday, photos of Andi Gusmari were splashed all over social media. This morning, Gusmari, 44, reportedly walked into the Hayward PD headquarters. He was described as “healthy,”but hungry. Gusmari speaks only Albanian and has a speech impediment. The Olympic bowler reportedly had his documentation with him, but no money.
“At about 2 a.m. he walked into our front lobby and he used the phone. Somehow we were able to communicate with him. We figured out who he was,” Hayward Police Lt. Guy Jakob said in a telephone interview, according to a post on the MyNewsLA.com website.
Gusmari was with his delegation on USC campus Saturday night. He reportedly became separated from the group when he went to the bathroom. Gusmari was discovered missing later that night during bed check in the campus dormitory. How he got from USC to the East Bay is still a mystery.
The Special Olympics World Games 2015 wrapped up yesterday with the closing ceremony. Burbank was the host town for the athletes from Zimbabwe and Botswana. More than 7-thousand athletes from 177 attended the events in the Southland.
