Arlington Heights police responded about 10:30 PM Tuesday to a report of a missing elderly man from Luther Village near 800 West Oakton Street Arlington Heights, IL. Police responded immediately to look for a man who has a history of walking away from healthcare/living facility. There is no confirmation at this time that the man was a resident of Luther Village.
Police were searching for a missing endangered elderly male/white subject about 6’3″ who was last seen wearing a red jacket and gray pants.
Police conducted an extensive search near Luther Village, in the area of the Hasbrook neighborhood, up and down Thomas Street from Wilke Road to Arlington Heights Road, near the US Postal Distribution Center, Arlington International Racecourse, the hotel building just west of Route 53 along Northwest Highway, the Metra/UP NW line railroad tracks and the Metra train station.
Witnesses reported a large police presence of at least 15 police squad cars traveling down Northwest Highway — mostly Palatine police and Arlington Heights police.
A Cook County Sheriff’s police helicopter also searched the area. No word at this time whether an ILEAS mutual aid police alert was activated, but area police departments were alerted about the missing man at about 10:44 p.m.
The man was found about 11:07 p.m. The exact location where the man was found is unknown at this time.
Arlington Heights firefighter/paramedics were called to the Campbell House at Luther Village at about 11:00 p.m. — apparently to check for cold exposure and other possible medical issues. No word on transport to a hospital.
Times for this report are approximate.
The Christmas Eve incident alarmed several people, who were recalling the hostage incident when a police officer was shot near Palatine Road and Arlington Heights Road on Thursday December 12, 2013, which also brought a large police presence and helicopters flying overhead.
LIVE TRAFFIC MAP of area of search for missing endangered elderly man from Luther Village …
Cardinal Note: As of June 5, 2013 — up to and including the date of this article — police incidents related to the above police agency are not reported in real time or within a prompt time period. Police protecting their realm of investigation and police activity, have chosen to use secret military-grade encrypted radios to withhold their police communications, which were previously open to the public and news media via monitoring of public safety scanning radios — with no known negative results locally.
The delayed knowledge or entirely blacked out knowledge resulting from encrypted police communications may protect certain police operations and investigations, but it also puts the public at risk in situations such as when armed and dangerous offenders are at large and when other similar situations occur, such as when desperate offenders of property crimes are eluding police. In other cases, the delayed or blacked out information inhibits or prohibits the possibility of the public providing early witness accounts before a criminal trail goes cold. Citizens are much more likely to recognize or recall suspicious or criminal activity if they are aware of the criminal incident within minutes or hours of its occurrence. The most serious incident involving dire results would be a trail that is allowed to go cold in the case of child abduction.
The lack of real time information from public police dispatch also weakens an effective neighborhood watch program mostly working to prevent property loss, but also working to prevent possible violent crimes.
Police have alternate ways to transmit tactical, operational or investigative information, while still keeping their main public dispatch channels open for the best balance of public safety and police safety.
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