Using geo-location technology, New Canaan Police on Wednesday night found a missing 83-year-old local man with Alzheimer’s disease who had wandered off downtown, officials said.
At about 5:15 p.m. on Dec. 7, authorities received a call that the man had been missing for about 15 minutes from the area of Main Street and Locust Avenue, according to a New Canaan Police Department report.
The man is a client of a Port St. Lucie, Fla.-based nonprofit organization that uses transmitters to search and rescue people with cognitive disorders, the report said.
“ Officers trained to use Project Lifesaver tracking equipment responded, and the search started from where the man was last seen,” according to a media release from Lt. Jason Ferraro, public information officer in the police department.
Capt. Andrew Walsh, Lt. Carol Ogrinc and Officer Kelly Coughlin searched the center of town for the missing man, Ferraro said.
“The tracking equipment was used and set to the frequency associated with the missing man’s transmitter,” he said. “While searching the area officers were able to locate the man on East Avenue. The man would have been difficult to locate if not for the tracking equipment.”
He was found, unharmed, at about 5:40 p.m. Ferraro said, and reunited with his wife.
Here’s more information about Project Lifesaver.