A Silver Alert broadcast on Texas highways and social media helped law enforcement and search teams track down an elderly man who went missing over the weekend.
David Lawhorn, 79, a Waring Road resident who has dementia, went missing about 9 p.m. Friday. First responders set up search teams, notified authorities and started combing the area near where Lawhorn first went missing.
Brady Constantine, Kendall County deputy fire marshal, Monday briefed the Kendall County Commissioners Court on the two-day search and eventual recovery of Lawhorn, who was found Sunday morning and is reported in good condition as of noon Tuesday.
Constantine said a search began in the immediate area in the 200 block of Waring Road. Due to nightfall, the search was suspended about 5 a.m. but reconvened at 8 a.m. once daylight had returned.
“At about the 8-hour mark, I contacted (County Emergency Manager) Jeff Fincke and headed out there, to see how we could assist,” Constantine said.
As the search developed — now involving emergency response teams members from the Comfort, Sisterdale and Bergheim fire departments as well — a cold front swept into the area.
“We were fighting against the weather, we had storms moving in,” he said. With the resulting low cloud cover, “we had no air assets that were willing to come.”
The search teams received credible information on the direction Lawhorn was headed, he said, from the Alamo Area Search and Rescue Team, which brought a team of bloodhounds to the area.
“They get on a scent and track different than our average law enforcement dogs here. The sheriff’s office made the phone call and got them out,” he said. “That gave us a path he potentially took and gave us a direction to continue searching.”
Homeland Security offered a helicopter on Saturday to aid the search.
Constantine told the court one of the initial steps taken after the search command unit was established was to contact the Texas Department of Public Safety to issue a “Silver Alert.”
The Silver Alert, in place since 2007, is designed to notify the public of missing older adults who suffer from conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
That notification proved to be the case-breaker.
“That was a huge asset. The community are the ones ultimately that found the gentleman, based on what was put out by the Silver Alert,” he said. “Becky Fincke was running all the social media for the county. That was what located the gentleman and brought it to our attention.”
He gave credit to the Waring Fire Department, sheriff ’s office and the Alamo Area rescue dog team. For their persistence and presence during the weekend search.
“Without the foundation that was laid out by Waring and the sheriff’s office and bringing in these dogs, it wouldn't have been as successful as it was,” he said.
Lawhorn was found about 9:45 a.m. Sunday on FM 474 north of town. He was transported to a local hospital and admitted in stable condition.
Boerne Fire Department joined the search on Saturday when the focused area of search ended up in their district.
“It was a long weekend, but we had a great outcome,” he added.
County Judge Shane Stolarczyk expressed the gratitude of the court for the search effort.
“Our first responders stepped up and put a plan of action in place and eventually found him. For all of you that participated, the court thanks you,” Stol-
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