Local News

Missing 87-year-old with dementia found by state police in woods

The man was treated at a local hospital for cold exposure injuries.

Massachusetts State Police

February 26, 2024

1 minute to read

A missing 87-year-old man with dementia was rescued last week from a cold, wooded area by authorities with the help of the Massachusetts State Police Air Wing and K9 unit.

State police said troopers, including the Massachusetts State Police K9 Unit, Special Emergency Response Team (SERT), and Air Wing, responded on the afternoon of Feb. 21 to help police in Russell search for the missing man, who had been last seen just after noon in the area of Blandford Road.

While state and local police checked area homes and businesses for the man, K9 teams found footprints in the snow headed from a driveway down a steep embankment into the woods. They followed the track across flooded and frozen ground to a clearing, according to police.

Meanwhile, one of the department’s helicopters was conducting an aerial search and spotted a heat signature near the K9 teams.

Around 8 p.m., police said, one of the K9s pulled toward a large tree, where its trooper partner found the elderly man lying on the ground, about eight hours after he was first reported missing.

State police said the man was given first aid by state police at the scene and then carried to a waiting ambulance, which transported him to a nearby hospital for treatment of cold exposure injuries.