CRYSTAL TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A family dog is being credited with leading police to a missing 63-year-old man with Alzheimer’s who was missing for several hours Wednesday, March 28.
The man disappeared while walking with the dog. Michigan State Police says his family reported him missing after their own failed two hour search.
A state police K9 assisted in the search for the man, as well as the Crystal Township Fire Department.
The search area was in the vicinity of Madison Road and North 128th Avenue.
The man was not wearing a jacket at the time he left on the walk.
"He certainly was not prepared to spend the night out there," said Lt. Jeff White, Michigan State Police Hart Post Commander.
Around mid-night a trooper noticed a dog with a leash on the side of the road.
The dog matched the description of the dog that the man left home with. The dog appeared to be going back and forth between the road a a cluster of trees a short distance off the road.
The dog looked to be trying to the lead the troopers into the woods and located the missing man sitting on the ground and leaning up against a tree.
"He was confused as to where he was," said White. "And the better of his thought process was to stay still, and that's a good thing because it's easier to find somebody stationary than one on the move."
The man received some minor medical treatment from paramedics and a short ride down the road to his home.
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