French Rapper Found In Hospital, 4 Days After Getting On Wrong Subway Train

UPDATED 05/09/15 12:25 a.m.

By Mike Montone and Adam Harrington
CBSNewYork.com

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A rapper visiting from France was found in a hospital in the Bronx late Friday, four days after he got on the wrong subway train and vanished.

Arthur Astie, 22, had last been seen just before midnight this past Monday at the Nostrand Avenue and Park Place subway station on the No. 2 train in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, according to police.

Astie was found in an unspecified hospital in the Bronx late Friday, police told CBS2. He was in good condition and was safe, police said.

Sara Ripp said Astie is a rapper in France, and produces work with a group she manages in New York. She said Astie and his family met up with her and spent time with her in Brooklyn this week.

Ripp said they were all together Monday night, and Astie was supposed to get on a flight going home to France the next day at 1 p.m. He was supposed to take the No. 2 train from Brooklyn back to Harlem where he was staying with his family, but got on the No. 5 train by mistake, Ripp said.

Ripp said Astie does not speak English well and did not know where he was supposed to be getting off. The last time he was heard from, he said he was in the Bronx and called his father to say he was going to turn around and find his way back to Harlem, Ripp said.

"He called his father to say, 'I'm coming home; don't worry,'" Ripp said. "He said he was headed underground to go back to Harlem, and that's the last communication anybody had with him."

Ripp said a short time later, Astie's phone either accidentally or consciously dialed his mother's overseas number, and in the inadvertent call, subway noise can be heard. Astie can also be heard "having a strange altercation with some people."

"Between the time he called saying he was lost in the Bronx and headed back underground, I really don't know what has happened," Ripp said.

In addition to police, the French Consulate had also been assisting in the search for Astie.

ALERT: NYC, Arthur Astié has been missing since May 4th. If you have any information please call 911 or 917 923 1829. pic.twitter.com/oNKkRjNr7u

— French Consulate NY (@ConsulFranceNYC) May 6, 2015

It was not clear late Friday what happened between Astie's disappearance and his discovery at the hospital.