Elderly Man With Dementia Goes Missing in Maine, Found by Local News Crew
An elderly man with dementia goes missing in Maine but found by news crew.
May 30, 2013— -- A 73-year-old man with dementia went missing in Maine Monday but was found 14 hours later when he approached a news crew that was reporting on his disappearance.
Reporter Norm Karkos with ABC affiliate WMTW in Portland was live on the air when Robert McDonough began walking toward the news crew and turned up in the background of its shot. As McDonough approached Karkos, who was standing outside McDonough's house, he asked what was going on.
Karkos immediately realized that McDonough was the elderly man who'd been reported missing from his home in Limington, and notified the Maine Warden Service, which is the lead agency in Maine for search-and-rescue calls.
"We believe he had wandered into the woods adjacent to his home," John MacDonald, of the Maine Warden Service, told ABC News. MacDonald said McDonough was in good health when he was found early Tuesday morning, even though he'd spent the night outside in the cold.
The Warden Service had spent most of Monday night searching the woods, using K-9 dogs and a helicopter with an infrared camera.
"We probably would have found him eventually, but it's difficult to search at night, and we're very thankful he was found alive," said MacDonald.
One of McDonough's family members, who did not want to be identified, told ABC News that McDonough was doing well, and had only a few scrapes.
The bigger problem is, though, that McDonough doesn't remember where he went or why he wandered off, and his family worries he may disappear again.
"He's never done this before, but you can't predict this and we'll keep a closer eye on him," said the family member. "We're currently looking into GPS devices that he can wear so we can track his location in case this happens again."
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