Tracking equipment helped New Canaan police find a missing 79-year-old man who has Alzheimer's.
Police responded to Thurton Drive on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. after a caller reported an elderly man suffering from Alzheimer's disease had been missing for at least 15 minutes.
Officers found him behind bushes in a nearby yardabout .3 miles away from his home at 6:51 p.m. that night with the help of a Project Lifesaver trasnmitter he was wearing. The tracking equipment helped police find the area quicker and the department said it would have been more difficult to find him without it.
The man wasn't injured and police returned him to the care of his wife.
"Project Lifesaver International (PLI) answers a critical need for protecting people with cognitive conditions at risk of wandering," New Canaan police said in a news release. "PLI is a non-profit organization specializing in search and rescue programs, conducts mandatory training and provides certification, ongoing management and support to public safety agencies throughout the country. The training includes teaching the responders how to use equipment and how to gain the trust of and communicate with people who wander, and to ensure that caregivers are well versed in the program – all of which are essential to a successful rescue."
You can find out more information about Project Lifesaver at www.projectlifesaver.org, www.newcanaanpolice.org or call Lt. Carol Ogrinc at 203-594-3500 or email her at carol.ogrinc@newcanaan.ct.gov.
