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Missing Ride-Share Driver Found at Downtown Hospital

A 29-year-old Uber and Lyft driver missing for more than a week has been found.

Joshua Thiede was found at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, according to a Facebook post by his mother, Janet Thiede. He was driving his black Nissan Altima around the 1000 block of Wilshire Boulevard in downtown, when he was last seen Feb. 11, prompting fears of foul play.

Safety for ride-share drivers and passengers is a persistent issue in the gig economy. The case in Los Angeles followed the death of a 23-year-old man on the 110 freeway after getting into some sort of altercation with a Lyft driver on Jan. 31.

No further information was available about how Thiede got to the hospital on Tuesday morning.

“At this time, we do not have all the details,” Thiede’s mother said.  “We are just extremely happy that he is alive. We are continuing to ask the LAPD to investigate the circumstances that landed him in the hospital.”In the post, Janet Thiede said her son is a vegan who was using Uber and Lyft as a way to support himself while he developing an organic shoe line. Police discovered Thiede’s car in Koreatown on Monday, the L.A. Times reports.

According to reports, Thiede’s mother said that someone called 911 from his cell phone, but hung up.

RELATED: Investigation Underway for Lyft Passenger Who Allegedly Fell to his Death on 110 Freeway.

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