VICTORIA, Texas -- A man who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease wandered into Mexico twice before he was found about 400 miles from the Texas border on Sunday, officials said.

Philip Orvan Kneifl, 67, was returned safely to his Victoria home Tuesday morning, not knowing he had traveled to Mexico, officials said.

Family members told investigators Kneifl called his sister Deanna Crawford on Nov. 12, to tell her he planned to visit her Kansas home.

Kneifl’s wife, Martha Kneifl, was on a church mission trip in Galveston, Sheriff T. Michael O’Connor said.

“They really didn’t think his dementia was as serious,” O’Connor said in a story for Tuesday’s online edition of the Victoria Advocate.

Kneifl left his home Thursday and headed to Austin, credit card purchases show. Friday, he entered Mexico twice at Laredo.

Kneifl’s wife reported him missing Friday morning. The sheriff’s office contacted state officials and issued a Silver Alert on Friday.

Details of Kneifl’s journey from then on are sketchy, until Sunday morning when villagers in rural Zacatecas, Mexico found him wandering through town.

“This small community pretty much adopted him,” Investigator Melissa Rendon said.

Residents fed him coffee and cookies and kept him calm, she said.

Rendon, who is bilingual, spoke with villagers in Zacatecas and Mexican authorities. Rendon organized a flight from Zacatecas to Mexico City, where Kneifl met his son for a return flight to San Antonio.

Department of Homeland Security officers helped clear Kneifl for takeoff on Mexicana Airlines, O’Connor said. He said the airline and customs officials were reluctant to let Kneifl onto a plane without a passport.

“It wasn’t until we saw him coming toward the gate we took a big breath” of relief, Rendon said.