OKLAHOMA CITY -
A 74-year-old missing for more than a day was found alive
Sunday by volunteer searchers in the area.
Police said the man was lucky to be
alive after spending the night cold and wet along a North Canadian River bed.
Lacy
Penin, 74, apparently wrecked his SUV near the Wilshire Blvd. and Douglas Blvd.
According to police, he became confused and ended up lost in the woods not far
from where he wrecked his Tahoe. Officers located the wrecked SUV but found
nobody inside.
"The
officers found the Tahoe when they called me, but they didn't let me know that
they had found the Tahoe because there was nobody so they didn't want to alarm
us," explained Penin's younger sister Figgie Mitchell.
Penin's
sister said the family had been looking for him for more than a day after a
neighbor noticed him acting odd early Saturday morning.
"Friday,
going into two o'clock that morning he was outside in the backyard talking
about my brother in New York was here riding a white horse so the neighbor knew
then he was confused."
2/3/2013 Related Story: Missing OKC Man Found Safe Near North Canadian River
Penin
told his neighbor Saturday morning that he was going to pay his cell phone bill
but never returned. Mitchell said if it were not for the volunteer searchers
Sunday, there would be no way of telling how long Penin would have been
stranded out in the cold.
"The
guy that owns this property found out what was going on and they went out and
started looking because the choppers couldn't see him," she said. "The girl
that was on the horse, heard him yelling and that's how they found him."
Police
say he's lucky they spotted him and pulled him out to safety when they did.
"A lot
of times in situations like this, it may be a longer time period before they
are found and usually when the time is longer, the chances of survival are
less," explained Eddie Southard with the Oklahoma City Police Department.
Figgie
Mitchell told News 9 on Sunday night that her brother was still being treated
at Midwest City Regional Hospital. He was still confused about what happened.
She added that doctors were running a series of tests on Penin to find out what
caused him to become confused. Penin will turn 75 this week.
Lacy Penin, 74, apparently wrecked his SUV near the Wilshire Blvd. and Douglas Blvd. According to police, he became confused and ended up lost in the woods not far from where he wrecked his Tahoe.
