Missing man found in Everett, two weeks after mother began searching for him

REDMOND, Wash. — A Redmond mother tells KIRO 7 her son has been found after he walked away from their home nearly two weeks ago.

The 20-year-old man walked from Redmond all the way to Issaquah back on Jan. 24. He was last seen that day talking to Issaquah police officers.

His mother handed out flowers Saturday in downtown Seattle, hoping that someone could help her find her son.

“He’s been absolutely amazing, amazing son,” said Belinda Ramsey.

But last May, 20-year-old El-Elyon Ramsey, his first name Hebrew for “Most High God,” was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

“What that meant is that I really needed to be, as a mother, a really close watchman on my son, for my son,” Ramsey said. “He was just, he had gotten symptoms of being just afraid of everything. And he just wanting to, you know, call the cops, call the cops. He thought that people were after him.”

His mother says on Jan. 24, without warning, he walked out of their Redmond apartment, headed south on Calder Avenue Northeast, his younger sister not far behind. His mother called 911.

El-Elyon was first intercepted by Redmond police, then hours later, three Issaquah police officers spotted him. But he had committed no crime, so they let him go.

His mother wanted him to be committed.

“They said that there was no reason for them to, you know, kind of help facilitate his mental challenges or anything or to try to get him some help,” she recalled, “because when he talked to them, he was not a threat.”

She believes his race is a factor, too.

“If there is a Caucasian person that is missing, instantly they get on the news without hesitation,” she said. “It’s not the case with El-Elyon.”

On Saturday, Issaquah police told KIRO 7 they were actively looking for her son, and that his disappearance was an active, ongoing investigation.

El-Elyon was found on Tuesday, wandering the streets of Everett, according to his mother.

He was taken in by the Everett Gospel Mission and has since left there on his own.

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