Police K9 Tracks Down Elderly Man Who Wandered From Group Home: Park Forest PD

PARK FOREST, IL — An elderly man was safe Sunday after he wandered from a group home and was tracked down by a K9 officer, Park Forest police said Monday.

On Oct. 18, at about 2:45 p.m., Park Forest officers responded to the 300 block of Wilshire Street for a report of a missing person. Staff at a group home reported that an elderly resident had left and was missing, police said.

They told police the man has cognitive and intellectual impairments that may cause him to become confused and disoriented.

Police said that officers immediately began an extensive search using patrol personnel, unmanned aircraft systems, and a police K9.

K9 Officer Piszczor and her partner, K9 Lorde, successfully tracked the man, finding him inside a vehicle. He had entered an unlocked vehicle, where he was out of view of officers searching from the air and on the ground, police said.

The man was evaluated by paramedics, found to be uninjured, and safely returned home, police said.