[ad_1]
Invercargill missing man Raymond Horn, who has not been seen since Monday morning after disappearing from a nursing home, “played hard” his entire life.
But he had a stroke in 2017 and at the time of his disappearance, the 68-year-old was unable to speak, was shuffling around and was known to be confused, his sister said.
He was last seen at 8 a.m. Monday at the Walmsley House nursing home, where he lived, but did not show up for lunch.
Staff at the nursing home reported him missing after being unable to locate him.
READ MORE:
* Police ask for help in finding the missing man from Invercargill
* Fire and Emergency NZ apologizes for the delay of the emergency alert after an ammonia leak in Hāwera
* ‘Loud’ alarm sounds from millions of phones while New Zealand emergency alert system is being tested
Ongoing search efforts and requests for public information from police over the past two days have failed to generate confirmed sightings of Horn.
His sister, Wendy Lee-Arona, said she was scared for him.
“I’m very scared because I don’t know where he is, I don’t understand what happened.”
His routine was to leave the nursing home to smoke and take a “little walk” down Macmaster St, he said.
“He always came back … this is out of line.”
Supplied
Invercargill Man Raymond Horn [pictured here in 2013 before a stroke disabled him] He’s been missing since Monday morning. Police believe it may be in a shed or garage on someone’s property in the Mary St and Macmaster Street area, near where they lived at the Walmsley House nursing home.
He said his brother couldn’t walk distances “beyond the turn of the block” without stopping to sit on the fence, given his hip and leg problems, and he didn’t think he could be far.
“I can’t see him crossing a main street … someone must have seen him, that’s what I can’t understand, he should have been seen walking.”
Invercargill-raised Horn, whose only son Brendon died of a heart attack at age 14, was a truck driver in Christchurch for many years.
“He worked hard, he played hard, he smoked a lot and he drank a lot, that was his life,” said his sister.
However, after his stroke in 2017, his sister moved him to Invercargill and he had been living at Walmsley House on Mary St for the past six months.
Michael Parker, CEO of Presbyterian Support Southland, owner of Walmsley House, said Walmsley House was not a secure unit, it was a nursing home and residents could come and go as they pleased.
Robyn Edie / Stuff
Wendy Lee-Arona, sister of the late Invercargill man Raymond Horn, is extremely concerned for his well-being.
He realized that Horn had never been away from the nursing home “for a period of time” before, so it was out of place for him to do so.
“Out of place. We are really worried about him … the staff is really upset because they keep thinking, if we would have noticed something or not. “
Parker said he could not discuss Horn’s medical condition, but that he was “adequately located on the level of the nursing home.”
On Tuesday night, police sent an emergency text alert to cell phones in Invercargill asking residents to help solve Horn’s disappearance. However, no leads were generated.
The emergency alert asked recipients to search for Horn on their properties.
Sergeant Ian Martin said Horn, who did not have a cell phone, was about 160 cm tall and 55 kg.
“We still believe it is in the area near Mary St, there is nothing to suggest that it came out of Invercargill.”
Search teams had searched most of the properties in the area around where Horn lived, and the parks had also been searched.
Given Horn’s medical condition, it was possible that he was hiding in someone’s garden shed or garage, and Martin urged the public to verify his properties and any surveillance video they might have.
Martin said there were no suggestions of foul play.
Horn was thought to be wearing a light colored polo-style shirt, a black and red colored jacket, athletic shoes, and sweatpants or jeans.
A police spokeswoman said Horn was a vulnerable missing person, so the text alert was sent Tuesday night.
The police had partnered with the National Emergency Management Agency to send out alerts when deemed necessary in New Zealand.
“The officers involved believe this is the first time it has been used in the Invercargill area. It was issued for mobile phones in the central Invercargill area. “
Anyone who knows of Horn’s whereabouts should call 111 and quote event number P045508171.
Robyn Edie / Stuff
Sergeant Ian Martin, at the Invercargill search and rescue base, as the search for Raymond Horn, 68, continued through Wednesday night.
