Missing Dutchman with Alzheimers rescued from a ravine in Murcia on his birthday

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The tourist, who was travelling from Alicante to Málaga, went missing after becoming confused and wandering away from his family

Missing Dutchman with Alzheimers rescued from a ravine in Murcia on his birthday

A 75-year-old Dutch tourist who went missing on Wednesday June 19 in the Ricote Valley in the Murcia municipality of Ojós, has been located and rescued after police tracked him down to the bottom of a ravine.

It was at 3pm on Wednesday when an emergency call came through to the phone number 112 to say that the elderly man had gone missing in a mountainous area of the Ricote Valley, and that he suffered from Alzheimer’s.

When the Guardia Civil police arrived at the place where he had last been seen, in the Mirador de Franco, they met with the man’s son who told them that he was travelling with his parents from the province of Alicante to the province of Málaga, where they live, when they decided to stop at the viewpoint.

It was there that they lost sight of him for a few moments and he disappeared.

From that moment on, the Guardia Civil set up a command post at the site and organised a search operation using a helicopter and a drone team, as well as forestry agents, Civil Protection agents and Local Police.

They scouted the area all afternoon and evening, but with no success.

It wasn’t until 7am the next morning, Thursday June 20, that the drone team’s thermal camera spotted what appeared to be the body of a person, lying down and with hardly any clothes on, in the middle of a ravine that was difficult to access.

They immediately went down into the steep ravine and found the missing man, alive and responsive. They gave him water and fruit, and one of the officers gave him the shirt off his back so he could warm up.

He was able to walk but had somehow lost his shoes, so the officer kindly gave him the shoes off his own feet to walk the half kilometre that separated him from the road, where an ambulance was already waiting for him.

After initial medical attention, the elderly man was taken to the Morales Meseguer hospital in Murcia, where he remains in hospital.

His family, from the Netherlands, was immediately informed of his location and rescue and expressed their gratitude for the service provided, informing police at that moment that it happened to be his 75th birthday.

Images: Guardia Civil

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