"Pitch Black, Where Am I?" Dramatically Rescued After 22 Hours

▲ Search for Missing Person on Mt. Eomgwang, Busan

An elderly person in their 80s with dementia, who went missing on a mountain in Busan at night, returned to their family's arms after 22 hours thanks to a police search and a citizen tip.

According to the Busan Busanjin Police Station, a report was filed stating that an individual in their 80s, surnamed A, went missing at 8:48 p.m. on September 30.

A's son filed the report with the police based on a phone call from A, who said it was pitch black and they did not know where they were.

As a result of the police tracking A's cell phone location, A was confirmed to be in the area of Mt. Eomgwang, which stands 504 meters above sea level.

Due to the large temperature difference between day and night and A's cell phone turning off three hours after the report was received, the police launched an intensive search, deploying drones and search dogs.

Police officers from the Sasang Police Station and Seobu Police Station, which are adjacent to Mt. Eomgwang, also joined the search.

The police issued a missing person alert and distributed fliers to residents near the hiking trails.

Around 6:48 p.m. on October 1, 22 hours into the search, a tip was received from a citizen, surnamed B, stating that they had spotted A in the Kkotmaeul area of Seo-gu.

B had discovered A blocking their vehicle on their way home from work.

After going home and hearing from their mother that missing person fliers had been distributed, B returned to the scene, protected A, and reported the incident to the police.

The police handed A over to the family and attached a SmartTag2, a wandering-detection device, to A's belongings.

A police official stated that the wandering-detection device has been operated in cooperation with local governments since 2024, and added that they plan to award a certificate of appreciation to B, who contributed to finding the missing person.

Approximately 300 personnel, including 194 police officers and 121 firefighters, were deployed for this search.

(Photo provided by Busan Busanjin Police Station, Yonhap News)

※