
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 8, 1994                   TAG: 9501110008
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                 LENGTH: Short

MAN, 67, LOCATED AFTER 12-HOUR SEARCH

A man who wandered away from Warm Hearth Village retirement center Tuesday afternoon was found early Wednesday after search teams scoured nearby woods for about 12 hours.

Richard Burns, 67, wandered away while walking on a hiking trail on Warm Hearth property off Hightop Road. He was last seen at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, and search teams were called about an hour later.

Burns was found in the woods about 4 a.m. Wednesday, said Christine Snider, office manager and marketing assistant with the Showalter Center at the retirement village. Snider said Burns was taken to Montgomery Regional Hospital to be examined and was back home by 5:30 a.m.

Snider said she had not spoken with the man and had no explanation other than that he just wandered off. Burns has been diagnosed with some dementia, she said. Other than mealtimes and medication-distribution times, Burns was free to come and go.

More than 60 volunteers helped in the search.

- New River Valley bureau

by CNB