Boy, 8, Honored By Lakewood Sheriff’s Deputies After Finding Missing Neighbor With Alzheimer’s
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LAKEWOOD, CA (KCBS/KCAL) — An observant 8-year-old was honored in Lakewood Wednesday for his role in finding an 83-year-old man with Alzheimer’s who had wandered away from his home.
A search operation was launched Sunday morning after 83-year-old Roger Dunworth wandered away from his daughter’s home in the 4000 block of Marber Avenue in Lakewood. One of the searchers was young Jaxon Opdyke, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Dunworth had been wearing a bracelet that helps locate missing people with special needs, but Jaxon spotted him before deputies could track him down.
“I saw a red shirt and blue pants – they were jeans – and I said, ‘Grandma, look, there he is.’ And she said, ‘no, where?’ And then I said, ‘look down that street,’” Jaxon said. “And my grandma asked him, ‘Hey, are you Roger?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I could sure use a ride.’”
The keen-eyed boy was reunited with sheriff’s deputies Wednesday and deputized for the day.
Mayor Todd Rogers thanked Jaxon “for being Lakewood’s newest hero.”
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