Missing man with Alzheimer`s found during search by firefighters

May 27--An elderly man with Alzheimer's disease who was reported missing was found safe Friday morning near his home on Kiddville Lane in southeast Fayette County.

Firefighters found the man lying down in a wooded area along a fence line about 100 feet from his house, said Maj. Maria Roberts with the Lexington Fire Department. "He was awake and alert," Roberts said.

The man, whose name was not released, was taken by ambulance to a local hospital to be checked out.

The man was last seen by his wife about 3 or 4 a.m. Friday, and "when she woke up around 8:30 or 9, she couldn't find him," Roberts said. "She looked around the house and was unable to find him.

"When she couldn't find him, she caller her grandson who lives in a house on the property, and he hadn't heard from him. That's when she called 911."

A helicopter was called in to search from the air, and firefighters broke up into teams to search the rolling, wooded property near Raven Run Nature Sanctuary. Search dogs were enlisted in the search of fields and outbuildings.

Firefighter Chris Baldwin had his personal drone, and that was used as "another tool in the toolbox" in the search, Roberts said. The drone was used to search the area before the helicopter arrived, Roberts said.

Teams searched a half-mile radius around the house, and the man was found about an hour after firefighters arrived.

Greg Kocher: 859-231-3305, @HLpublicsafety

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