Elderly visitor missing

The last time Delgratia Stinson-Belton saw her brother, he was chatting with a meter maid at about noon Monday. Then the 68-year-old Alzheimer's patient was gone.

Gerald Stinson, of Rock Hill, was visiting Charleston with his sister when he disappeared downtown near the intersection of Broad and State streets. He was last seen wearing navy-blue pants, a gray polo shirt with black stripes and a crumpled looking cap.

"It was like, 'Now you see me and now you don't,' " she said. "I saw him and he was a good distance ahead of me, and I said 'Gerald!' He was (gone) like a rabbit."

Stinson used to live at Joseph Floyd Manor on Mount Pleasant Street and frequented the Poinsett Street area. The family said his long-term memory is still intact and he might go to those areas. He might mention the names Bella and Cynthia, his daughters.

Stinson also suffers from high-blood pressure, diabetes and prostate cancer.

"He needs medication," his sister said.

Stinson is carrying identification.

Charleston police were patrolling the downtown area and looking for Stinson, Charles Francis, police public information officer, said Monday.

The police department used a Charleston County telephone alert system to inform residents of the area about the missing man.

Stinson served in the military and was stationed in Germany years ago. His sister remembered back to earlier days Monday night, before the disease.

"He was one of those brothers you were proud of," she said. "He was just a lovable brother."