Saturday, November 30, 2013

Sad news

An 82-year-old local gentleman suffering from dementia who has been missing since October 11th has been found by hunters deceased in his vehicle 165 miles west of Dallas.  He left home to go to David's Meats (my butcher) and was never seen again.  No foul play was ever suspected.  A "Silver Alert" was promptly issued statewide without success.

While I didn't know him, I knew his son....he went to school with my brother....and his wife worked for my CPA.  Both were wonderful people.  It's hard to imagine someone wandering off and dying like that all alone, probably cold and hungry.

He was "old school" and didn't have a cell phone which might have been used to locate him. Likewise he had a GM SUV, but wasn't a subscriber to their Onstar service, which could have also been used to track him.  I wonder why the family couldn't have agreed to immediately begin service, allowing Onstar to flip an activation switch and then find him?  It obviously doesn't work like that, but it should.

How come we have drones flying at 30,000 feet that can identify a particular terrorist among thousands of other people, our NSA can identify a particular phone conversation anywhere in the world, there are cameras on every corner that can be pulled up to review every crime scene, and yet we can't find a missing person cruising aimlessly down a state highway in North Texas?

I guess the thing to take away from this is every elderly person should have at least a cell phone with them at all times so they can call for help, or in reverse help can find them.

S


8 comments:

  1. All good points, also at some point you just need to take away the keys, but independence is the last thing people are willing to let go of.

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    1. True Joe. But even there I've heard of elderly people WALKING miles away from home.

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  2. Very sad. Yes, cellphones can be a great aid for the elderly. When I'm "elderly" I'll probably get one.

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  3. A man I knew who suffered from the same ailment of old age went (in a very small town) to pick up a pizza and wasn't found until weeks later, with his car stuck in the snow on a rural road miles and miles from his home. Who knows what the mind does to these poor souls.

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  4. I have a plan for you .... if your brain decides to flake on us.... I am GPSing you. I haven't found anything online yet but I am sure some company is working on something....but I need a GPS chip that runs on it's own power that can be inserted arm (hello NSA?] I'm sure all the privacy nerds would be up in arms .... but I will take my chances.

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  5. He was a lucky one. I had an Uncle who was locked up and suffered alone until he died at 59 yo. It is a terrible sickness no one wants.

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  6. Yes, sad indeed. With all this modern technology, stuff like that still happens. I like Kelly's idea, because even if you have a cell phone, you still need to have it with you to be helpful.

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