A man from Rockland County who had been reported missing for nearly a week has been located safe, following a search effort that stretched across two states and included a search near the Hudson River.
According to the Orangetown Police Department, the case began on Sunday, July 5, when officers received a report about a vulnerable adult male who had not been seen since Friday, July 3, in the Upper Grandview area. Relatives told police they had lost all contact with him and feared for his safety.
Police say that once the report came in, officers wasted no time — the man’s information was entered into the National Crime Information Center’s missing persons database, and search efforts kicked off almost immediately.
By Monday, July 6, investigators caught a break when they found the man’s car abandoned in Palisades, close to the Hudson River. The discovery pushed authorities to widen the search zone, with officers combing the surrounding area for any sign of him. Despite the expanded effort, he remained unaccounted for over the next two days.
The turning point came Wednesday morning, when a hospital across the state line in Bergen County, New Jersey, reached out to Orangetown investigators. Staff there had a patient whose description closely matched the missing man.
Detectives were dispatched to the hospital and confirmed what they’d been hoping for — the patient was indeed the man they’d been searching for since the weekend.
Police confirmed he is safe and currently receiving medical care. Authorities have not released further details about what led to his disappearance or where he had been in the days he was missing.