A man who disappeared in 2012 was seen 6,500 miles away from his home in Vancouver, Canada.
Anton Pilipa trekked across two continents and ended up in Brazil.
Pilipa, who is suffering from schizophrenia was found a female Canada-born Brazilian cop and mistook him as a beggar. Since he had no passport or any identifications.
Luckily with the help of several international agencies and embassies, the cop was able to track down the family of Pilipa. Later, his brother Stefan traveled to Brazil and reunited with him.
“I was stunned. I told myself that he was dead. Because that was the only thing I could come up with that explained his absence,” said Stefan.
Pilipa, who has been placed back on his schizophrenia medication, traveled from Canada to at least 10 countries, including the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil, carrying only little more than the clothes on his back.
He also braved the Amazon jungle and he was lucky because he didn’t encounter poisonous animals and snakes as well as cayman and jaguar.
He said he survived picking fruits and from food given to him by strangers.
The timing is also great because Pilipa’s health is already deteriorating when he was identified. Now, he is home. However, right after he reached Canada, he was arrested for the pending assault and weapon offenses. He was then released on bail.
Pilipa worked all over Canada for a humanitarian organization before he vanished.