James Edward McElwain went missing from his Paramount home on July 18, 2018, authorities said.
James Edward McElwain. Photo courtesy the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Authorities on Monday were looking for a 50-year-old man with bipolar disorder and dementia who went missing in Paramount last week, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

James Edward McElwain was last seen around 3 p.m. on July 18 when he walked away from his home, authorities said.

“He has walked away before, but has returned home,” the sheriff’s department said in a missing-person bulletin. “His family is concerned because this is the longest he has been gone.”

McElwain may have been headed to Progress Park in Paramount or an Arco gas station at Alondra and Paramount boulevards, authorities said.

McElwain is 50 years-old, about 5-foot-5, 135 pounds with brown hair, blue eyes and a gray beard. He was wearing a dark shirt and dark sweatpants when he went missing, authorities said.

They asked anyone who sees McElwain to contact the sheriff’s department’s missing persons detail at 323-890-5500 or Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers by calling 800-222-TIPS.

Jeremiah Dobruck is executive editor of the Long Beach Post where he oversees all day-to-day newsroom operations. In his time working as a journalist in Long Beach, he’s won numerous awards for his investigative reporting and editing. Before coming to the Post in 2018, he wrote for publications including the Press-Telegram, Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. Reach him at [email protected] or @jeremiahdobruck on Twitter.