Search Operation

[Anchor Lead]

An elderly man went missing at night in Seoul on February 17. But thanks to the efforts of netizens, the public and police, he was rescued in 48 hours.

[Pkg]

Seventy-four-year-old Jeon Seung-chan went missing in a crowded place. He disappeared while his family was helping a motorcyclist who got into an accident.

[Soundbite] Kim Myung-sook(Missing Man's Wife) : "I let go off his hand to help the accident victim. But when I came back, he was nowhere to be found."

The man has been suffering from dementia since three years ago, and is unable to find home on his own. His loved ones filed a missing report to the police and searched the area.

[Soundbite] Kim Myung-sook(Missing Man's Wife) : "We searched the entire neighborhood. You never know what accident he may get into."

The man's family even requested help on the Internet. Some of the people who learned about the case online, even made flyers to help find the missing man. Police quickly got to work. After checking more than a hundred security cameras in the neighborhood, they found that the man boarded a bus. But identifying the license plate number proved to be difficult. So the police found ten buses that passed by the area during that time slot. They eventually found that the man took the bus number 9-3. Footage of a security camera installed on the bus showed he disembarked at the last stop in Anyang, Gyeonggi-do Province.

[Soundbite] Kim Yu-hyun(Seoul Gwanak Police Station) : "It was very cold that day. If we missed the critical time, the man's life could be at stake."

Scores of policemen were mobilized to search the area, then finally found the man 48 hours after his disappearance. He was spotted bleeding on the bank of a stream on a snowy day. He also had hypothermia.

[Soundbite] "I was so worried. I keep crying again and again. What if we never found you? I'm grateful that you survived."

The number of dementia patients who go missing has been on the rise. Last year alone, their number surpassed 12,000. Eleven of them are still unaccounted for. Police are urging the public to report all elderly people who appear to behave strangely.