Police from the Mid West – Gascoyne District have successfully coordinated a land search operation for an 80-year-old man who was reported missing on Friday night, 19 August 2022, about 160km south west of Sandstone.
The man had left his residence early in the morning in a vehicle to undertake routine work on the property. The vehicle was later located about 10km from that residence.
A large-scale search operation was commenced, which included both land and air search assets. Several police units from within the district and from Perth were deployed to the search, including Police Air Wing and specialist Trackers from the Tactical Response Group.
They were assisted by several external agencies, including AMSA, DFES State Emergency Service volunteers and the RAC Rescue helicopter.
The search area included harsh terrain where even four-wheel drive vehicles and quad bikes could not be safely used.
About 12:00noon yesterday, Sunday 22 August 2022, the TRG Trackers located the 80-year-old man about 14km from the vehicle. They provided initial first aid and requested air support to evacuate the man to hospital. An RAC Rescue Helicopter flew in to the search area and picked the rescued man up and flew him to Geraldton, where he was transferred by ambulance to hospital.
