Missing Summit Man, 81, Located Walking In Maplewood

SUMMIT, NJ — Residents praised the work of the Summit police and their neighbors on Sunday night after an 81-year-old Summit man was found wandering following a day-long search in freezing temperatures.

On Sunday afternoon, the Summit police sent out a missing persons alert saying, "ALERT: Missing Person. Missing from the New England Apartments area since about [7 a.m.]" It said the man was 81 and suffers from Alzheimer's, and was wearing a tan LL Bean jacket, brown pants, and black shoes.

Residents in Millburn and Springfield said they also got the alert.

"He frequently walks the area with a health aide," noted the police alert, "but is alone today. He may have the hood on the jacket pulled up. [He] does not have access to a vehicle."

The police urged residents to check back yard, garages, and sheds, and to keep a lookout "so we can get officers into the area and provide him the help he may need with the freezing temperatures."

The posts on the department's Facebook page got more than 100 comments, some people offering to search because of the cold.

At 5:30 p.m., the police posted on Facebook that the man had been found.

"Thanks God!! I love this town," wrote a woman. "My husband and I decided to take a walk and check when some kids approached us and asked about him and told us if we find him to please reach the police department. Great job parents."

A man wrote, under the announcement, "My father has been found. He ... was found walking in Maplewood. Thank you everyone in the community for your support and assistance today. Summit PD thank you so much."

"THANK YOU Summit PD, EMS, Fire, et al!" wrote a resident. "I saw you out looking all day today! Stay warm, well & safe! Happy New Year!"

Prepare for wandering

The Alzheimer's Association says, "Six in 10 people with dementia will wander. A person with Alzheimer's may not remember his or her name or address, and can become disoriented, even in familiar places." The have advice to prevent and respond to wandering here.

The advice includes:

• Keep a list of people to call on for help. Have telephone numbers easily accessible.
• Keep a recent, close-up photo and updated medical information on hand to give to police.
• Know your neighborhood. Pinpoint dangerous areas near the home, such as bodies of water, open stairwells, dense foliage, tunnels, bus stops and roads with heavy traffic.
• Is the individual right or left-handed? Wandering generally follows the direction of the dominant hand.
• Keep a list of places where the person may wander. This could include past jobs, former homes, places of worship or a restaurant.
• Consider enrolling the person living with dementia in a wandering response service.
• Begin search-and-rescue efforts immediately. Ninety-four percent of people who wander are found within 1.5 miles of where they disappeared.
• If the person does wander, search the immediate area for no more than 15 minutes. If the person is not found within 15 minutes, call 911 to file a missing person’s report. Inform the authorities that the person has dementia.

RELATED: Watch Summit police save an unresponsive man in a local repair shop.

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