Police use electronic tracking device to locate missing man
Posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Electronic tracking equipment helped police find a missing 84-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease on Thursday morning — in just 11 minutes.
The missing man is a member of Project Lifesaver of Benton County, Bella Vista Police Department detective Mark Kugler said. The organization’s mission is to provide electronic equipment and training to help police quickly find individuals who wander away from home.
The search began when a woman reported her husband missing from their home on Wentworth Drive, dispatcher Amber Bowman said.
After notifying Kugler about the missing person, Bowman said she pulled a folder containing the man’s photo and other information that would be useful during the search. The information included the radio-signal frequency for the man’s transmitter, assigned to the family by Project Lifesaver.
Immediately after receiving the call at 10 a. m., Kugler said he entered the frequency into the tracking device and drove to Wentworth Drive.
Almost as soon as he arrived, the device began receiving the man’s signal, Kugler said. But before the detective could begin walking the wooded area, he had to add a different antenna. At 10: 16 a. m., Kugler had the unit set up and began walking the woods, searching with the receiver. At 10: 27 a. m., he found the man.
The program has been in law-enforcement offices in Benton County for about three years. This was the first time any department had located a missing person using the device, said program administrator Lana McDonald,
People eligible for the service are those with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Down syndrome, autism and a host of mental disorders, Kugler said.
The police train people how to use and care for the transmitter. It can be worn either on a wrist or around the neck, Kugler said. Officers are also trained to use the receivers to locate people.
Families interested in joining Project Lifesaver pay a $ 300 start-up fee, said McDonald, whose office is at St. Theodore’s Episcopal Church. Then, they pay a $ 25 monthly fee to cover expenses.
For information about the program, call St. Theodore’s at 855-2715 or Deputy Doug Gay at 271-1008.
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