Daughter praises community for rallying round to help find her dad

Janet Green’s dad Les, who suffers from dementia and has diabetes, disappeared on Saturday 4th April after going out for a walk.

After he did not return to his home on Duchess Crescent, Whitwell, Janet raised the alarm and villagers rallied together to search for him.

“I was going out of my mind,” Janet said. “I was fearing the worst.”

“He went out for a walk on Saturday afternoon, he has got a usual route that he goes.”

“It was my nieces birthday so we had gone out.”

“My son, who lives with him, came home from the pub at midnight and said his grandfather was not anywhere in the house.”

The police were called and a helicopter and dogs was used to search the route which Les regularly takes.

“Lots of people came out, friends, family and strangers,” Janet, 68, of Duke Street, Whitwell, said.

“We had the police helicopter out, the police dogs, we searched from one end of Whitwell to the other, there was no sign of him.”

Les was eventually located the following morning at 7.30am on Sunday 5th April by a complete stranger who is thought to have been walking his dog. Les later went to hospital but is back home now.

“He had fallen down in a field near Belph,” Janet added.

“He said that he knew where he was but he could not get back up.”

“I would like to thank everyone for their help.”

A Derbyshire Police spokesman said: “Sadly a number of people suffering from dementia are often reported missing.”

“We would like to thank the public for their assistance and are glad that Mr Cluroe was found safe and well.”