Police find missing elderly man with dementia

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) – The search for a missing 86-year-old man with dementia who was last seen Monday night came to a successful end Tuesday morning.

Stephen Chase was found alive, and well near his home. News10NBC talked to the police about what it takes to find missing loved ones.

Brighton Police Chief David Catholdi told us his department couldn’t have conducted a full-scale search for Chase without help from other first responders.

"So this morning we got a call shortly after 6 a.m. of a missing resident here at the Legacy, and we determined he was probably missing since about 12, 12:30 last night," said Catholdi.

The last time someone saw Stephen Chase, it was Monday around 9 p.m. Chase, who lives at Legacy at Clover Blossom in Brighton, was only wearing a plaid shirt, and boxer shorts. He was spotted on McAuley Drive before disappearing. Catholdi says Tuesday morning’s search for the 86-year-old only lasted about 4 hours, but he brought in all the help that he could get.

"We had resources from state police, helicopter," said Catholdi. He continued, "We had bloodhounds that came from I think the Buffalo area. The sheriff’s department brought in a lot of resources for us. We had K-9 units from them, ATVs, and mounted units on standby. We had drone units up."

Luckily, Chase never made it far. In fact, he never left the parking lot on campus.

"We had been checking inside the building multiple times. Checking the vehicles. We started to do more of a thorough search of the vehicles when a couple of deputies that work for me, noticed him slumped down in the back of a car sleeping," said Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Shawn Edwards.

Catholdi says, Chase was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital to be checked out and for possible dehydration. We asked him what families should do if their loved ones living with dementia go missing all of a sudden.

"Immediately notify 9-1-1. If you have somebody that maybe wonders, or is ill, has dementia you know make sure you have a good photo of them," said Catholdi.

Family members should also know about these programs says Catholdi.

"There are some programs out there, and they have a bunch of different acronyms. There is Silver Alerts, there are ID bracelets, and I’m going to actively be looking into some of these programs specifically because of what happened here today."

Police were able to find Chase quickly, thankfully, because he found an unlocked car in the parking lot to sleep in. Otherwise, they remind people to always lock up their cars.

Also, police in Greece continue their search for 46-year-old Keri Anne Heine. She was last seen leaving her home Sunday morning on Armstrong Road. If you have any information on her whereabouts, call 9-1-1.