By Bay City Service
A missing Petaluma man who was found late Thursday night near Saint Helena was spotted by an off-duty Rohnert Park public safety department dispatcher who notified Petaluma police, and a citizen who saw him and called the Napa County Sheriff's Office.
Petaluma police detective Tamara Shoemaker said the dispatcher recognized 49-year-old John Wirth from a flyer informing the public about his disappearance on his bicycle Wednesday.
Wirth was considered at risk because of a traumatic brain injury he suffered several years ago from a motorcycle accident. His family informed Petaluma police around 7:40 p.m. Wednesday that he left his home around 7
a.m. and had not returned home.
The family said he had a cell phone but does not know how to use
it, police said.
Police received reports that Wirth was seen between 9 and 11 a.m Wednesday on state Highway 37 near Interstate Highway 80, Shoemaker said.
The last place where the cell phone pinged was in the area of
Jameson Canyon Road and Interstate Highway 80 between Napa and Solano
counties, Shoemaker said.
It's believed Wirth rode on state Highway 12/121 and north on
state Highway 29. He was found around 10:30 p.m. Thursday on Silverado Trail
north of Taplin Road east of Saint Helena, Shoemaker said.
Petaluma detectives who were in the Jameson Canyon Road area with
Solano County search and rescuers drove to Saint Helena and brought Wirth
back to Petaluma in an unmarked police car, Shoemaker said.
Wirth did not have his cell phone when he was found, and might
have lost it or discarded it if the ringing became annoying, Shoemaker said.
"We didn't get a good interview with him. He was pretty tired and
hungry and was covered in brush and weeds. It seems he had some previous
experience with survival skills," Shoemaker said.
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