New Merrillville K-9 Assists With Missing Elderly Man Saturday
On Saturday, 4/10/2021, at approximately 10:31AM Merrillville Police received notification that an elderly subject suffering from dementia had walked away from a senior living center at the 7250 Arthur Boulevard, according to Assistant Chief Kosta Nuses.
The elderly man was last seen at approximately 7:00AM and it is believed he walked away shortly after. Facility staff had gone out looking for him and found some clothing he had left behind nearby, Nuses said.
Merrillville Police Cpl. Gary Henry and his new K9 partner Dozer, one of the new Merrillville Police K9 teams arrived on scene at about 11:30AM, where the articles of clothing had been left behind. (K9 Dozer is one of two dogs recently acquired from Baden K9.)K9 Dozer was able to pick up a scent and began tracking strong, eastbound 73rd Avenue towards Broadway. Cpl. Henry and K9 Dozer tracked until inclement weather and the significant time lapse had to be taken into consideration. Nearly an hour later the track was called off. Shortly after the track was called off, the missing elderly subject was located 35th & Broadway in Gary. He was returned safely back to the center. The gentleman that had been missing told police that he left and walked eastbound till he got to Broadway. He then continued north until he was located.
“This ended with the best possible result,” Nuses stated. “I’m very thankful to all agencies that assisted us, especially the Lake County Sheriff’s Dept and their aerial unit.” “I’m very proud of all my officers including Cpl Henry and K9 Dozer. Even though Cpl Henry and K9 Dozer didn’t immediately find him, I’m confident to say that they were both on it and going on the right direction,” Nuses added.
