PHOENIX -- A 65-year-old St. Louis man is missing after Amtrak personnel, mistaking his diabetic shock for drunk and disorderly behavior, kicked him off a train in the middle of a national forest, according to police in Williams, Ariz.Police said Roosevelt Sims was headed to Los Angeles but was asked to leave the train shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday at a railroad crossing five miles outside Williams, reported KPHO-TV in Phoenix.
"He was let off in the middle of a national forest, which is about 800,000 acres of beautiful pine trees," Lt. Mike Graham said.
Police said there is no train station or running water at the crossing, which is about two miles from the nearest road, at an elevation of about 8,000 feet.
Amtrak personnel told police dispatchers that Sims was drunk and unruly.
The Sims family said Sims is diabetic and was going into shock.
Sims' brother, Brian Mason, said his family tried to call Sims on his cell phone that night, but Sims was incoherent.
When officers arrived at the crossing, police said, Sims ran into the woods, leaving his luggage and medication behind.
Cell phone records show that Sims' phone was last used in Litchfield Park, Ariz., 180 miles from Williams.
Williams police said Amtrak has used the abandoned crossing as a drop-off site in the past, the television station reported. Graham said that whether drunk or not, no one should be dropped off there.
"You don't put anyone off in an area like that," Graham said.
Amtrak said the company is looking into the matter.
"I just want to find him," Mason said. "I'm not mad at anybody."
"I want to find a way to make sure he's OK," Mason added.
"Our thoughts and prayers are that there's no way he's out there in those woods," Graham said.
Airlines have had to lay on extra flights for all the tort lawyers descending on Arizona as we speak. They wouldn't dare take the train.