Family: Death of Elderly Man With Dementia Act of Homicide, Negligence (Update)

Image: Lubin Phipps (Maryland-National Capital Park Police)

Updated at 5:20 p.m.

Family members of an elderly Prince George’s County man with dementia who died after he wandered away from a picnic at a regional park called Lubin Phipps’ death a homicide at a Monday press conference.

Phipps, 80, was living at the Woodmore House Assisted Living facility when the workers took him out for the Sept. 18 picnic without notifying his family, his daughter, Michelle Phipps, said Monday, reports WUSA.

Members of the Phipps’ family called the incident – with the victim missing for three weeks – an instance of criminal negligence.

“They never called us prior to bringing him to this event,” Michelle Phipps told reporters.

Patch’s earlier post

Family members say a body found Sunday in a field less than 200 yards from an area that was searched previously for a 80-year-old man with dementia is that of their missing father.

Lubin Phipps was last seen at about 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, when he walked away from the picnic at Watkins Regional Park in Upper Marlboro, according to the Prince George’s County Division of the Maryland-National Capital Park Police. He apparently went to use the restroom, and wandered from there.

SEE ALSO: Police: Missing Elderly Man Wandered Away From Picnic

Monday morning the family released this statement:

It is with heartfelt sadness, we learned yesterday October 11, 2015 that the Park Police and various Maryland Search and Rescue Teams discovered in Watkins Regional Park a deceased male who is presumed to be Mr. Lubin Phipps (our father). Our family thank you for reaching out to us and keeping the public informed as we searched for our father.

We have scheduled a press conference at 2:00 pm today to answer questions as we go through this extremely difficult time.

At the time of his disappearance, authorities said Phipps struggled with dementia or memory impairment, and may have been confused and distressed.

NBC Washington reports the body was found during a search by Maryland-National Capital Park Police and volunteer search and rescue teams.

Park police said the body was found in a soybean field, part of which had been searched before.

Authorities say the body and the clothing matched Phipps’ description.

The victim’s daughter told NBC she questioned whether the assisted living center that held the outing had properly supervised her father.

The press conference will be held at Leyden Law offices in Bowie.