Oregon City police initially asked the public for help finding a 93-year-old man with dementia after he drove away from his home Saturday morning. Fred Francis Leach left home at 7:20 a.m. Saturday, according to police. He was later located safe by Oregon City police.
Leach is described as approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds, and he was last seen wearing an Oregon State University Beavers jacket, a burgundy shirt, and blue jeans, according to KOIN.com. Police say he was driving a white 2017 Toyota RAV4 with license plate 019KQH, and the vehicle carries a handicap parking placard along with an Oregon State University logo hanging from the rearview mirror. The RAV4 also has visible damage near the passenger-side back door handle, a detail investigators hope will help anyone who spots the car identify it quickly. Anyone with information is asked to contact Oregon City police.
Why Every Hour Matters
Data from the Alzheimer's Association shows that six in 10 people living with dementia will wander from caregivers or home at least once, often repeatedly, as cognitive decline erodes their sense of familiar surroundings.
Because Leach was behind the wheel when he vanished, his case involved a missing driver with cognitive impairment.
Oregon's Legal Framework for Missing Vulnerable Adults
State law gives police little room to delay in cases like this one. Under Oregon Revised Statute 181A.320, municipal police departments and sheriff's offices statewide are required to maintain written policies for investigating missing vulnerable adults, including people with dementia, as quickly as possible using all available resources. Guidance from the Oregon Department of Emergency Management further clarifies that Oregon enforces no waiting period before reporting a missing vulnerable adult, requiring law enforcement to enter missing person reports into state and federal databases within 12 hours.
Search and rescue operations can involve volunteer ground searchers, K-9s, and drones. The Oregon Department of Emergency Management says a statewide network responds to more than 1,000 missions every year with the help of over 1,700 volunteers.
A Recent Gresham Case
A recent case in the region involved a missing senior with cognitive decline. Hoodline reported that Gresham Police safely recovered 79-year-old Toan Nguyen the same day he was reported missing after asking the public for help and directing sightings to a regional non-emergency dispatch line, offering a recent example of a rapid, positive outcome nearby. A South Salem man with dementia who went missing with his dog is another recent case in the state. As of the KOIN.com report, Leach had been located safe, and police had asked the public to come forward with any information about his whereabouts.
