An approximately 80-year-old Santa Rosa man who vanished for roughly 48 hours was found alive Thursday evening, disoriented and down in heavy brush near Annadel State Park, after a sheriff’s helicopter crew picked up his heat signature within minutes of beginning an aerial search. Officers had been searching for him since a concerned neighbor reported he hadn’t been seen or heard from in two days.
Santa Rosa police officers were dispatched to the 300 block of Los Alamos Road at approximately 5:53 p.m. on Thursday for the missing-person report, according to the Santa Rosa Police Department. The neighbor who raised the alarm told officers the resident had not been seen or heard from for roughly 48 hours. Police described the man as having known medical conditions, including a cardiac history that requires daily medication, and he was entered into the missing and unidentified persons system as a missing person at risk.
When officers reached his home, they found it unlocked and unoccupied, with his vehicle and cellular phone still inside — a sign he had likely left on foot. The department’s report notes he regularly walked from his residence to the nearby Annadel State Park area, which helped guide the search toward that stretch of terrain.
Helicopter Crew Spots Heat Signature Off Channel Drive
Patrol officers and violent crimes investigations detectives conducted an extensive ground search and canvassed numerous neighbors before requesting the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office’s Henry 1 helicopter to scan the broader area. The police department’s report credits the helicopter crew’s aerial search capability with helping locate the man within minutes. The Henry 1 crew detected a heat signature in a wooded area off Channel Drive shortly after beginning its search…