Dr. Kenneth Litwack, 71, a long time Newport Beach doctor, has gone missing after checking himself into a Tucson mental health and rehabilitation hospital last Friday. Litwack was last seen at the Arizona hospital on Tuesday, according to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Department.
A missing-person bulletin released by authorities on Wednesday said, “family members say Litwack suffers from bouts of confusion and likely wandered off.”
Family and friends arrived in Tucson late Thursday to help in the search after driving from Newport Beach all day, according to published media reports in Arizona.
Litwack, a specialist in infectious disease, maintains an office near Hoag Hospital on Superior Avenue in Newport Beach. According to available records Litwak and his wife have maintained a home in Corona del Mar for years, where his wife Louise is an appraiser.
A friend and colleague of Litwack’s, Dr. David Sheffner, a Newport Beach forensic psychiatrist who arrived in Arizona to help search for Litwack, told local Tucson television station KOLD-TV late Thursday night that Litwack “has had some neurological problems and went into a downward cascade and did the right thing. It’s called ‘physician heal thyself’ and he was in this facility in Tucson.”
Litwack’s son-in-law, Cory Harrison, also spoke to the Tucson TV station late last night as the search for Litwack continued. “It’s tough, it’s tough, just trying to stay positive and strong and hope for the best,” Harrison told the TV station.
Harrison added “The biggest fear is that we won’t find him but I’m confident we will. I really think with the sheriff’s help, and having family here on site and the support everyone’s giving each other, I’m confident we’re going to find him in the next day or so.”
Authorities in Arizona say Litwack, who has gray hair and wears glasses, was last seen wearing a white polo shirt with blue athletic pants. He is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds.
If you have any information that might assist police in locating Litwack, you are asked to call the Pinal County Sheriff Dispatch at 520-866-5111.
He helped my Dad kick some pretty serious bugs in several differant encounters with Dr. Litwack over the years…he always came into the room on rounds and check on my Dad’s on-going condition….never ‘phoned it in”, so to speak. He made a good “cocktail’.
A good man.
Best Wishes, Dr.