Yeongam Police Rescue Elderly Dementia Patient Lost in Mountains, Reunite with Family

Rapid Deployment of Drones and Helicopters
Precious Life Saved

The Samho Police Precinct of Yeongam Police Station in Jeonnam (Chief Superintendent Yang Junghwan) quickly located and returned a rescue subject with dementia symptoms to their family after they went missing from home around 4 a.m.

According to Jeonnam Police on the 3rd, at approximately 8:50 a.m. on the 19th, a 112 emergency call was received stating, "My older brother has symptoms of dementia and left home at 4 a.m.; we have been searching for him continuously."

Police officers are rescuing a missing elderly person with dementia. Provided by Yeongam Police Station.

Recognizing the urgent need to locate the elderly individual with dementia, the police requested additional support from about 50 personnel including police, fire, and disaster response teams, and conducted a thorough search of the railway tunnel and surrounding forest.

The GPS location from the rescue subject's mobile phone indicated a heavily wooded area of Heukseoksan Mountain, where there are no hiking trails, so the search was focused on the summit and surrounding areas, making the rescue operation particularly challenging.

In particular, police deployed drones, helicopters, and search dogs, and eventually found the exhausted rescue subject leaning against a large rock on the eighth ridge of Heukseoksan Mountain (650 meters above sea level) in Namsan-ri, Miam-myeon, Yeongam-gun. After confirming their safety and assisting them, as they were unable to walk alone, the subject was escorted down the mountain, transported to Yeongam Korea Hospital, and safely handed over to their guardian, saving a precious life.

The caller expressed deep gratitude to the rescuers, including the police officers who worked hard on the search, saying, "I am relieved that my brother was found quickly in the suddenly cold weather and that no harm occurred."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.