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The man, who suffers from dementia, had wandered off from his home in Russell in the area of Blanford Road on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 21. He was missing for more than eight hours on a frighteningly cold day. Records show the temperature didn't get above 40 degrees that day.
Russell police and state troopers quickly began canvassing the area in the hopes of finding him. it wasn't until a K9 unit found footprints in the snow that searchers got their first glimpse of hope.
Orry quickly picked up the man's scent and began to tug on his harness, leading his handler downhill to a frozen stretch of ground in a clearing, but Orry wasn't done. He pulled toward an overgrowth and a large tree.
A state police helicopter flew over the area and found a faint heat signature. That's where troopers found the man.
He'd been in the cold for eight hours and could not walk. Officers picked him up and carried him to an ambulance. Paramedics took him to a hospital, where doctors treated him for cold exposure injuries.
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