A missing man with dementia was located Sunday, Oct. 8, after a search in the Dorset area.
According to a press release from the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office, at 11:38 a.m. a 70-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease was reported missing for the past hour from his rural home, near Lake Belle Taine in the Dorset area.
Responding deputies interviewed the man’s family and searched the immediate area, the release states. Dispatchers sent out an Everbridge emergency notification to people’s phones in a two-mile radius, providing a description of the man and asking people in the area to report sightings to the sheriff’s office.
After approximately one hour of searching, deputies requested the aid of a K-9 unit, the release states. Deputy Craig Kritzeck and his K-9 partner, “Ace,” began their own search of the area. After 20 minutes of searching, “Ace” found the missing man in a wooded area.
The man was checked by North Memorial Ambulance Service staff and was returned home to his family unharmed, the release states.
“We take every call like this very seriously,” Aukes said in an interview. “It’s kind of special to everybody when it’s an elderly person, and when they are suffering from Alzheimer’s it’s even a little bit more important for everybody. I think everybody gave a little bit extra in trying to locate this individual, and our K-9 is such a valuable tool to the sheriff’s office.
“We didn’t even think twice about calling our K-9 out. He was off duty at the time, but he gladly came in, and they put their nose to the ground and located the individual in short order.
“I’m very proud of the job that the dog does as well as the K-9 handler, Deputy Craig Kritzeck.”
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