FL Man With Dementia Rescued 80 Hours After Going Out For Walk: Reports

SEBASTIAN, FL — An 86-year-old man with dementia was found in the woods this week after a dramatic rescue nearly 80 hours after he went for a walk and was reported missing, according to multiple reports.

Donald Keaton was found after an Indian River County Sheriff’s Office drone pilot spotted a heat source under dense trees in a wooded area on Wednesday night, NBC Miami said.

A video shared with the news outletshows deputies walking through the woods just before they found Keaton alive around 10:30 p.m.

"I got him, I got him right here," one deputy said. "Donald, we got you buddy. He's alive, he's alive."

The missing man was found under a mud and a patch of palms off a wooded trail, WPTV reported.

“He wouldn’t get out of a hole, that's why he was breaking the palms. He was trying to put them underneath him so he could lift himself out," his wife, Joyce Keaon, told the outlet. “He said 'I tried, I just couldn’t get out the hole.'”

Keaton wandered away from his home in a Sebastian RV park and seemingly vanished after he crossed a highway near Interstate 95 on Sunday afternoon, CBS 12 said.

Surveillance video footage showed him walking from the Encore Sunshine Travel RV Park and along 94th Street, Vero News said. Law enforcement said they used helicopters, all-terrain vehicles and ground units to search for Keaton near the bridge and the walking trail.

"I just want to thank all of you for bringing my husband back home," Joyce Keaton said, according to reports.

"Donald is alive. It's a Thanksgiving miracle," Sheriff Eric Flowers reportedly said. "Without this technology, he would not be alive today. He would not be having Thanksgiving with the family."