PHETCHABUN — A Swiss man with Alzheimer’s disease who went missing for four days from his home in northeastern Thailand was found about 250 kilometers away after local residents brought him to a police station, authorities said.
The man was discovered wandering in Lom Sak district of Phetchabun province and taken to police on December 29 after residents reported he appeared confused and unable to communicate, said Pol. Col. Theerasak Sarnapusitsant, superintendent of Lom Sak police.
Police said the man had no identification and was unable to give his name or address. Officers found only two keys on him — one for a Ford vehicle and another for a Honda motorcycle — and attempts to communicate through an interpreter were unsuccessful due to his apparent memory loss.
Police and tourist officers cared for the man while trying to locate his family, providing food, water and shelter as they posted appeals on social media.
Authorities later received information that the man had been seen earlier with a blue Honda Scoopy i motorcycle bearing license plates from Nong Bua Lamphu province. Police traced the registration to a foreign resident in Suwannakhuha district, Nong Bua Lamphu, and contacted local community leaders, who reached the man’s Thai wife.
The wife told police her husband, identified as Ernst, a Swiss national with Alzheimer’s disease, had ridden his motorcycle away from home four days earlier. The family had filed a missing person report and did not expect he could travel such a long distance, crossing several mountain routes.
She and other relatives traveled to Lom Sak police station later that day and took him home, thanking officers and residents who helped locate and care for him.
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