KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Family members are outraged after they say $1,000 was taken from their 87-year-old father who went missing.
John Malone's family said he was found unharmed with a group of people who took the money.
"Health-wise he's fine, still can't comprehend exactly why they did what they did," Robert Schowengerdt, Malone's son-in-law said.
Schowengerdt told 41 Action News Tuesday his father-in-law John Malone loves going to the casino.
Over the weekend, Malone pulled into the Ameristar where he lost track of time.
"He was probably winning at the casino and he never drives after dark and he's usually in bed by seven," Schowengerdt said.
His son-in-law said when Malone left the Ameristar, he got disoriented and damaged his Buick.
Malone ended up driving to a gas station at St. John and Belmont in Northeast Kansas City where he encountered a couple.
Malone's son-in-law said the strangers put parts in the car so it wouldn't overheat. They wanted money for the repairs so Malone gave them his debit card and pin number.
"They took the $30 out of the hundred that he asked for and gave him the $70 and then they just kept driving around with him," Schowengerdt said.
Family members said the strangers handed Malone back a phony bank card as they used the real one to take about $1,000 from several ATMs across the metro with the elderly man in tow.
The next day Schowengerdt received an odd call from the couple.
"The female who had him call me at the house said my father-in-law was in an accident and they were trying to fix his car and they had fed him, which was a strange call for me and when I started asking questions about 'Where is he? Is he alright?' the boyfriend or whatever, he's the one that hung up," Schowengerdt said.
He called police who sent out a missing person's bulletin. Then in a twist, the woman who called Malone's son-in-law also called detectives.
Police tracked them to a house in the area of Linwood and Garfield.
Malone's family adds officers arrested one man who is could face fraud charges.
This is the one thing the family wants to share with the public: "At this time, I recommend that anyone with an elderly father take the keys," Schowengerdt said.
