Dispatcher helps find missing man

BERRYVILLE, AR — Due diligence by a dispatcher resulted in a happy ending for a Missouri family whose 80-year-old granddad with Alzheimer’s had gone missing.

The case unfolded late last Thursday afternoon when Carroll County Dispatcher Dana Bailey received a “Be on the Lookout” (BOLO) report shortly after 5 p.m. from Taney County, Mo., authorities who reported an 80-year-old Alzheimer’s patient was missing and driving a four-door gray Cadillac.

Sheriff Bob Grudek said Bailey received another call around 6 p.m. from a motorist who reported driving behind a slow moving Cadillac with no tail lights headed west on U.S. Hwy. 62 near the Bluebird Lodge.

He said Bailey matched the descriptions and summoned a deputy to investigate further.

Closest to the scene was Bailey’s husband, CCSO Investigator Mark Bailey, who responded from his Berryville location.

Mark Bailey said the subject in the Cadillac had passed the Exxon station and was headed into Eureka Springs when his wife contacted the Eureka Springs Police Department.

A traffic stop was initiated on the Cadillac by ESPD Officer Billy Floyd in front of Thurman’s Lodge, Mark said, and that is where he made contact with the Missouri man and suggested he go to the hospital, which he did.

The family was contacted, Mark said, and told that their family member was safe.

Mark said he received several phone calls from family members extending their thanks, including a call from a Missouri state trooper, the grandson of the subject, who was very thankful for the diligence of the dispatcher and the response from the local law enforcement community.

Mark said it was his wife Dana who made it happen.

“She did her job by recognizing that was the same vehicle,” he said, “and we had a happy ending for all.”

Read the story here.

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