Friends say 'Leslie' has not left yet

AUSTIN (KXAN) - One day after he told KXAN that he planned to leave Austin for Northwest Colorado, the city's most famous street person has not yet left town.

At least as far as many of Albert "Leslie" Cochran's friends have been able to discern.

Known simply as Leslie, Cochran was not on the 9:31 a.m. Friday Amtrak train out of Austin as he suggested he would be. He also was not at some of his familiar haunts in South Austin.

"Leslie is a super-complicated individual," said Tracy Frazier, who was at the South Congress Athletic Club with her friend Ruby Martin.

The two are making a documentary film about Cochran, who is about 60 years old and has been an Austin fixture for years. He once made a run for mayor.

"He basically creates a lot of creativity here, and he means a lot to people here," Frazier added.

For the past few days, Cochran has been telling friends that he plans to return to a town in northwest Colorado where he lived some 30 years ago. Friends like Debbie Russell worry that his mental health has deteriorated since suffering a stroke and a head injury from a fall in 2009.

"He's definitely neurologically challenged at this point," Russell said. "It comes through mental health issues. He's having a hard time functioning add taking care of his day-to-day needs."

Cochran's friend Christine Ann said she had not seen him on Friday. And it is not like him not to stay in touch, she added.

"When he did a train trip a couple years ago he called me every night to let me know what city he was in, where his next destination was," she said. "I sent him some money so he could buy a sleeping bag."