By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-05 22:46:57 | Updated at 2024-12-22 16:26:58
2 weeks ago
A Wyoming man with dementia who went missing has been found safe and sound after his wife spotted him on TV while watching a news segment about helping those in need in Salt Lake City.
Michael Black, 91, ended up at Rescue Mission of Salt Lake, which is over 200 miles (320 kilometers) away from the home he shares with his wife, Avril Black, in Afton in western Wyoming's Star Valley.
Avril, 77, had reported her husband as missing on November 25 and tipsters had helped police map his journey through southern Idaho and into northern Utah, but then the trail went cold.
It turns out that Black - who was diagnosed with dementia eight years ago - hitchhiked from a bus station to the rescue mission, where he met Jay Rouse.
Rouse, who is the shelter's chapel lead, told KSL News that he'd received a call from a good Samaritan who had picked Black up at the bus station on November 26.
'It was about 8.30pm to 9.00pm [local time] and normally, we're closed at that time but I said, "bring him by,"' Rouse recalled.
'Turned out he was 91 years old, a Korean War Vet. He was a really sweet guy. I realized this sweet, old man was in need of some help,' Rouse added.
The day before Thanksgiving on November 27, Avril spotted her white-haired husband while watching a KSL News segment as part of the 10 o'clock news that evening.
Michael Black is a 91-year-old man with dementia who went missing and his wife found him when she spotted him on a Thanksgiving news segment
Black ended up 200 miles from his home in Wyoming at this shelter in Salt Lake City called Rescue Mission
He was dressed in a black coat having dinner among dozens of others staying at the shelter.
Referring to the moment that she realized it was him, Avril said 'I thought, "Wait a minute, I'm sure I saw Michael."
'So I paused the TV, set it back, and yeah, sure enough, there he was,' she recalled.
'It was so unreal. I was so relieved. I actually slept that night,' Avril told KSL News.
Police then confirmed Michael Black's identity and she drove all the way to Salt Lake City to collect him.
'I'm speechless. It just blows me away that it happened. Boy, does he have some guardian angel looking after him.
'And you guys, thank goodness that you were there,' Avril continued, referring to the Afton Police Department and the team at the Rescue Mission of Salt Lake.
'The police have been wonderful to us,' she told the outlet. 'And the rescue home, they gave him warm clothes and a blanket and really took care of him.'
Sam Benastick, 20, (pictured) was found on Thanksgiving after he spent 50 days lost in the Rocky Mountains in Canada
The Thanksgiving miracle occurred the night before a missing 20-year-old hiker was found alive after he disappeared for over 50 days in the Rockies.
Sam Benastick was reported missing on October 19 after he did not return from a 10-day fishing and hiking trip in Redfern-Keily Park in the northern Rocky Mountains, in Canada's British Columbia.
With temperatures in the mountain region dropping to a bitterly cold -20C (-4F), authorities were forced to call off their search in late October.
But two workers who were heading down a trail on Tuesday spotted Benastick, recognizing him as he walked towards them with two walking sticks and a cut-up sleeping bag wrapped around his legs for warmth.
He was taken back to safety and told cops that he initially stayed in his car for a few days, before walking to a creek near a mountain, where he camped for around two weeks.
After his time at the creek, he moved further down the valley and built a shelter in a creek bed.
Announcing his safe return to civilization, mom Sandra Crocker told hunters and fishers on a local Facebook group: 'Sam Benastick is alive, it's TRUE.
'Recovering in hospital. Complained he hadn't caught one fish. He will make recovery, just needs some time.'
