VETERANS: Need a better way to “find” dementia sufferers

Friday, December 6, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/12/04/us-news/missing-korean-war-vet-with-dementia-found-more-than-200-miles-from-home/?lctg=6080ba40747925275a09dcd3

Missing Korean War vet with dementia found more than 200 miles from home after wife spots 91-year-old on TV
By David Propper 
Published Dec. 4, 2024, 11:53 p.m. ET

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A missing 91-year-old Korean War vet with dementia was found more than 200 miles away from his Wyoming home — when his worried wife spotted him on an evening newscast two days after he wandered off.

Avril Black’s concern was mounting after her spouse Michael Black vanished after he left their Afton home on Nov. 25, leading her to report him missing the next morning, according to a local report.

While authorities reportedly gathered he had hitchhiked his way to Ovid, Idaho, and then traveled down to Garden City, Utah, he was in the wind from there.

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I’m glad this hero was not found dead somewhere.  As a society, we need better systems to find individuals who “wander away”.  

Air Tags?  Angel Sense devices?  Medical Alert bracelets? Even Tattoos?  

I would believe that local police should be the first point of contact.  Amber alerts for the local area could be issued.  Shelters, churches, and vet organizations could be involved.

(When I get a NIXIE alert, I pay attention to it.  Never “found” anyone, but I look when out and about.)

Hopefully, we’ll get better at caring for members of the human race, who through no fault of their own, need help.

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INTERESTING: New use for K9 — reverse tracking

Sunday, August 4, 2024

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/after-rescuing-non-verbal-child-k9-officer-follows-the-boys-scent-in-reserve-to-find-his-home/

K9 Officer Rescues Lost Non-Verbal Child by Following the Boy’s Scent in Reverse to Find His Home
By Andy Corbley –  Jul 25, 202

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In North Carolina, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office received a call that a child was wandering alone on the road on July 7th.

Dispatching an officer to the Waxhaw Indian Trail Road, the child was located and secured, but being autistic and non-verbal, the officer had no idea where the boy had wandered away from.

Being that the responder was a K-9 Unit, and was working alongside his trusty 1-year-old bloodhound Remi, Deputy B. Belk utilized the dog’s incredible sense of smell to “reverse” the normal scent tracking process to find the boy’s home.

“Normally, [scent dogs] track from where a person left to try to find where that person is currently. This time we were doing it reverse,” said Lieutenant Public Information Officer James Maye to CNN.

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Lieutenet Maye explained the technique of reverse tracking would now be implemented in the training curriculum for K-9 officers.

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Excellent work.

I can almost hear the dog’s thoughts now  — “Yeah, I smell the scent and the person is right over there now.  What exactly do you want me to find?  Him?  He’s over there.”

I don’t know how they communicated to the dog they wanted him to back track.

As a fellow with a six year old, I can COMPLETELY understand how a child can “disappear” in a heartbeat.  Just recently I had mine “disappear” into the basement.  Argh!  

I can recommend Angel Sense tracking device as a service to make sure you know where the child is.

https://www.angelsense.com/

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