An extensive search launched Wednesday for a missing elderly Portland man who suffers from mild dementia ended well Wednesday night when authorities said they located Ronald Parsons, 84, at a family camp in Livermore.

Portland police officers, six wardens from the Maine Warden Service and three game warden K-9 teams spent Wednesday searching for Parsons in a thickly wooded 25-acre area off Canco Road. The search continued Wednesday night into another wooded area on the other side of Canco Road.

But around 10:30 p.m., Lt. Robert Martin, spokesman for the Portland Police Department, issued a press release that said Parsons “hitchhiked to Androscoggin County and made his way to a family camp.”

People who recognized Parsons from media reports contacted the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department. Martin said Parsons was not injured and that his family was making arrangements to get him home.

Parsons had been last seen around 5:30 p.m. Monday after he ate dinner at The Woods at Canco, the independent senior living retirement community at 257 Canco Road where he lives.

“He does suffer from mild dementia with paranoia,” Martin said in a statement. “He was wearing a GPS tracking device that police found discarded in the woods near his residence. Ronald has no cellphone, money or credit cards, and no access to a vehicle. His family is very concerned for his safety and well-being.”

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There are no restrictions on the residents who live at The Woods at Canco, though Parsons’ family did purchase the GPS tracking device for him to wear, Martin said.

Portland police said Parsons is in excellent physical condition. His family describes him as a woodsman who likes to take long walks.

Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com


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