Story Submitted
Madison County Sheriff Ben Stewart reports that on Sunday, July 31, at 1:31 a.m., Deputy Ben Pike was dispatched to a residence located on U.S. Hwy 19 in Madison County regarding a missing adult. Deputy Pike arrived at the location and spoke with the complainant, who reported that his 75-year-old wife was missing from their residence. The complainant further advised that his wife suffered from dementia. The complainant stated that he had fallen asleep while watching television sometime between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. During this time, his wife had been asleep in her bed, however, when he awoke at 1:30 a.m., his wife was gone.
The complainant informed Deputy Pike that his wife has walked off numerous times before, but he was usually able to locate her within a few minutes. Deputy Pike began to search the highway and requested assistance.
Captain David Harper was contacted and responded to the scene, along with Lieutenant Chris Andrews, Lieutenant Randy Jansch, and Lieutenant Doug Haskell. Captain Harper requested mutual aid assistance from the Leon County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) Air Unit equipped with FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) and Madison Correctional Institution’s (MCI) K-9 tracking team. Both agencies were immediately deployed.
Upon the arrival of the MCI K-9 team, Sgt. Todd Richardson, C.O. Donnie Bass, C.O. Darren Rye and K-9 Duke began to search the heavily wooded areas that surrounded the residence. After covering approximately nine - tenths of a mile in less than 30 minutes, K-9 Duke picked up the scent and led C.O. Bass and C.O. Rye to the missing woman, who was found lying on the ground with minor injuries and was too weak to call out for help.
C.O. Bass and Lt. Andrews carried the woman out of the woods, where her care was turned over to Madison County EMS. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office would like to extend their appreciation to MCI and the LCSO for their willingness to help and their assistance in safely locating the missing woman.