Missing dementia patient found in 12-foot ditch as crews race to help, Virginia cops say

A missing 80-year-old man with dementia was stuck in a ditch — until aerial technology helped to track him down, Virginia officials said.

Crews rushed in to help the man, who was found near an interstate and in a 12-foot, water-filled ditch. Rescuers pulled him to safety and took him to a hospital, according to the Virginia Beach Police Department.

“Temperatures were dropping and he was soaking wet so there was concern that he was at risk for hypothermia,” police told McClatchy News in an email.

Officials said the man was a patient at a nearby Saber Healthcare Group facility when he went missing Saturday, Dec. 10. Saber Healthcare Group didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Dec. 16.

Sgt. Mark Miller, aviation unit supervisor for the department, said equipment already was in the air at the time of the man’s disappearance. Using a helicopter’s heat sensors, officials were able to locate the missing man and led “officers right to him,” WCEC and WAVY reported.

“Officers on the ground are restricted to foot,” Miller told WAVY. “Everything they are seeing is from a linear view. We get a worldly view.”

The 80-year-old man was found about 30 feet into the woods, along Interstate 264. He was in a ditch with about 1 foot of water at the bottom and later went to a medical center to be evaluated “for injuries or possible hypothermia,” police told McClatchy News.

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