DENVER — A man who disappeared during last week’s Denver Broncos game, touching off an extensive search by family and friends, told police he had “his fill of football” when he walked and hitchhiked about 130 miles to a city in southern Colorado.
Paul Kitterman, 53, was found safe Tuesday night in a parking lot in Pueblo after police got a tip that he was in the city. The construction worker looked tired and had trouble walking, but a medical exam found him to be otherwise unharmed, Pueblo police Sgt. Franklyn Ortega said.
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Kitterman told police that he had not watched television in several days and was not aware that people were looking for him.
“He said he had his fill of football and that he likes to walk and wander, and he was looking for a warmer place,” Ortega said.
Officers who found Kitterman said he was lucid and coherent, telling them he slept in bushes and treed areas.
The tip on Kitterman’s whereabouts came from a friend’s ex-wife, who reported picking him up at the Salvation Army in Pueblo and dropping him off at a hotel, Ortega said. The sergeant didn’t have other details about his connection to the woman.
He said it appeared no crime had been committed.
“He’s a grown man. If that’s what he wants to do, he can do it,” Ortega said, adding that authorities put Kitterman up in a hotel until his family could pick him up.
Family and friends had been searching for Kitterman since he was last seen leaving his seat to meet friends at halftime of Thursday night’s game against the San Diego Chargers at Sports Authority Field.
They filed a missing persons report with Denver police, scoured the sprawling stadium, called hospitals and detox centers, and taped fliers around the city.
Police had previously said they did not suspect foul play, and Kitterman’s stepson noted that his stepfather did not have any known health or personal problems
Relatives in a news release thanked authorities and friends for helping find Kitterman and get him home. They asked for privacy.
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