A missing elderly Putnam County man was found by law enforcement officers Thursday, bringing relief and joy to all involved.
“It was good to have a happy ending,” Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said.
A woman reportedly called 911 around 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 7 and said her 82-year-old husband had gone missing.
“She said he has Alzheimer’s, and she had been searching for him in and around the house but couldn’t find him,” Sills said.
Putnam Sheriff’s Deputy Cpl. Chris Donovan and K9 officer Nix responded to the scene and searched the area where the wife said she had last seen her husband.
Nix and Donovan earned second place in tracking at last year’s annual South Georgia K9 Seminar; however, Sills said they could not locate the man after searching for more than an hour.
So, Sills called the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office and requested help from BCSO’s Deputy Lt. Jerome Roberts and his drone equipped with FLIR thermal cameras that sense body heat. Not long after, Roberts had the drone in the air and located the missing husband lying on the ground in the woods about 100 yards behind his house, Sills said.
“We called (Putnam County) EMS to come check him out, and they said he was okay,” he added, noting the man was found around 4:45 a.m.
“I was pleased they found him in about two hours in the dark, and he was okay,” Sills said. “It was nice to have something good happen.”
Sills said that the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office also has a drone equipped with FLIR, but he needs a drone operator.
“If anyone wants a job flying a drone, the sheriff’s office is hiring,” he added.