Metro Detroit K-9 unit helps rescue missing 80-year-old man with dementia

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - An 80-year-old man with dementia was rescued thanks to Sterling Heights police and their K-9 officers.

Police were called to the 34000 block of Colonial Drive at about 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday for a missing person. The man's wife told police that she woke up to her husband missing and he has a history of walking away from the house, according to a news release. The woman checked her home camera and saw that the man left the house at about 6 a.m. that day.

The woman told police that she has a tracker on her husband. The tracker showed the man's last known location was in a wooded area between Mound Road and Van Dyke.

Police checked the area but could not find the man. They utilized a drone and enlisted K-9 officers Walleman and Chip to search the area.

Body cam footage obtained by CBS News Detroit showed Officer Chip leading police through the woods and to the man, who they said appeared confused and was bleeding from a few cuts on his hands.

The man received medical care before he taken back to his wife.

"If it was not for the hard work and due diligence by all of the officers involved, there was a high likelihood that this individual would not have survived the nearly untravellable thick woods that he was stuck in. Not only was he lost in an area that is not traveled by the public, but he already sustained injuries from being in the woods, as well as he suffered from severe dementia," said Police Chief Dale Dwojakiwski in the news release. "I am very proud of the great job that our officers did rescuing and returning Thomas home to his very worried family! This is just another great example of the amazing work that Sterling Heights Police Officers do every day."