An 83-year-old dementia patient from a Mt. Vernon nursing home has been found safe in the old emergency room of Deaconess Illinois Crossroads Hospital.
Mt. Vernon Assistant Fire Chief Bryan Jennings says a search began for the patient when the nursing home determined he was missing from the facility around seven Sunday night. The search had to be discontinued five hours later around midnight due to storms moving into the area.
Around four Monday morning, police were notified the man had been found sitting in a seat at the old emergency room of Crossroads Hospital. He had told police he was waiting for the cleaning crew. It was not clear how he had gotten into the closed off section of the hospital.
Jennings says the primary concern for the patient was the extreme heat and the thunderstorms moving into the area.
The search was conducted by Mt. Vernon city police and fire along with Jefferson County Fire and EMS.
The name of the nursing home involved has not been released by Mt. Vernon fire officials.
