Deputy reunites missing man with family
Galloway resident with dementia had driven 128 miles looking for home
On Nov. 18, the Kennedy family of the Columbus area faced a scare when Jerry Kennedy, age 80, drove his 2015 Toyota pickup off his Galloway property.
The family was concerned because the elder Kennedy has dementia.
“It’s only been about a year since he stopped driving,” his son, Jerald Kennedy Jr., said.
The son explained his dad had good days and bad, and he loved his truck. The family let him drive around the property and pick up the mail in the truck.
“His truck was his pride and joy,” Jerald Jr. said.
Then on Nov. 18, his dad drove off the property.
“When my mom called and said he had taken off in his truck I called the police,” Jerald Jr. said. “We called the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department to let them know he had dementia and was out.”
Search for missing father was like ‘a needle in a haystack’
Alerts were posted on local TV stations about the missing 80-year-old man and sent out across Ohio.
Jerald Jr. said he and friends jumped into their vehicles and searched the area near his parents’ property.
“It was a needle in a haystack at that point,” he said.
The family’s fast action and the alert from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office aided in law enforcement finding Jerry Sr. in Sandusky County about three hours later.
Jerald Jr. contacted the News-messenger recently to praise how Sandusky County deputies located and cared for his dad, who had driven 128 miles, apparently looking for home.
“The sheriff that went out there was absolutely incredible. He picked him up; he was calming to him,” Jerald Jr. said.
That November afternoon, Sandusky County Deputy Sgt. Kevin Karn said he and another officer were on station when an alert came into the sheriff’s dispatch center about a reckless driver traveling east on the U.S. 20 bypass past Ohio 19.
Deputy managed to pull pickup over
The registration came back to a subject who was entered as missing and endangered. Karn said he took his cruiser and traveled to the Ohio 412 ramp to enter the bypass. He saw a black Toyota pickup with the right turn blinker on, but it was not making a turn.
Karn said he sped up and was able to pull the Toyota pickup over.
“He spoke to me just fine,” the sergeant said about Jerry Sr. The deputy said Kennedy said he was looking for home. “He was obviously confused.”
EMS transported Kennedy to Promedica Memorial Hospital in Fremont for care.
While Kennedy had some phone contacts, deputies did not have luck reaching family. Dispatchers then contacted the Franklin County Sheriff ’s Office and had them reach the family.
Jerald Jr. called back to Fremont and headed north with a friend on the twohour drive.
Karn said there was no policy that required him to remain with the elder man, but the day was slow on calls and he could keep the man calm and take extra work off the hospital staff by staying with him.
The deputy said he was able to stay with the 80-year-old man at Promedica for most of the time.
Kennedy’s problem had been his short-term memory.
“His long-term memory was phenomenal,” Karn said.
Jerald Jr. said the deputy got his dad something to eat and coffee.
Sat with senior in hospital until family arrived
“I thought he would take him to the hospital and drop him off,” he added.
“He sat in the room with my dad like he was family,” Kennedy’s son said about Karn. “This was a 21⁄2-hour interaction being a human being. He had no idea who he was before that day.”
Jerald Jr. said in today’s world Karn’s behavior is not what people expect of a law enforcement officer.
Karn said he owns a Toyota truck himself and that gave him a jumping point to talk with the 80-year-old gentleman and keep him calm.
Kennedy was taken home by his son. He is again living with his wife and a nurse checks on him a couple times a week.
On Nov. 18, he said he was both panicked and relieved in one afternoon.
Karn had previous experience dealing with people who have dementia during his 21-year career with the sheriff’s office.
“This is not the first time I have stayed with someone,” he said. “This is at least the second or third time.
“I definitely welcomed a positive outcome,” he added.
In 2018, Sandusky County residents saw the tragic outcome of another missing person with early onset dementia.
“When this started happening to my dad, it was heartbreaking. Thank God nobody got hurt. The sheriff (deputy) that went out there was absolutely incredible.” Jerald Kennedy Jr.
Tragic ending for one local woman with dementia
Clyde resident, Charlene Robinson, age 70, went missing in her car April 3 after going shopping at a Bellevue store. She was missing more than a month before her submerged car was recovered from a pond in Findlay and her body was found inside the vehicle.
“When this started happening to my dad, it was heartbreaking,” Jerald Jr. said about dementia. “Thank God nobody got hurt.”
“The sheriff (deputy) that went out there was absolutely incredible,” he added about the care Jerry Sr. received. rbrooks@gannett.com 419-334-1059