Pentagon shooter was reported missing

WASHINGTON, March 5 (UPI) -- A man shot and killed by Pentagon guards Thursday had been reported missing by his parents, who were worried about his mental state, authorities said.

The parents of John Patrick Bedell, who pulled a gun on the guards, reported him missing Jan. 4 in Hollister, Calif., the Los Angeles times reported.

They filed the report after receiving a call from a Texas state trooper who had stopped Bedell for speeding west of Amarillo.

The trooper apparently tried to determine if there was sufficient cause for a mental-health hold on him, the Times said.

"There's an inference in [the report] that he was concerned about his mental health," San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill said.

Bedell's mother reportedly told the trooper her son was OK, and he was released.

His mother called San Benito County sheriff's deputies the next day to ask for a mental-health hold in the event he was located.

On Jan. 18 deputies went to the Bedell home and were told by Bedell's father his son had returned home a few days before asking his parents "not to ask him any questions about where he was." Deputies removed his name from the missing-persons database, the Times reported.