Oklahomans Help Missing TN Man, 93, Find Safety

A 93-year-old man suffering from dementia was safe Friday night, all thanks to the Oklahoma Standard.

A Silver Alert was issued in Tennessee earlier this week but he was found hundreds of miles away.

It was near 5th Street in Arcadia where Robert Trailer came across an older man walking on the side of the road.

Worried, Robert stopped and asked the man if he needed help. And what he found out next, Robert called unbelievable.

Hard work is comfortable for Robert Traylor. But call him a hero or even a Good Samaritan, that's just plain silly.

"Just how I was raised, doing my Christian duties,” said Robert Traylor, Arcadia resident.

Thursday afternoon Robert was driving along 5th Street near Main Street, when he came upon a man he'd never seen before.

"I asked him if he was having trouble and he said he was trying to find his wife,” said Robert.

So Robert offered a ride to 93-year-old Garrie Gossett.

But Gossett never could tell Robert where his wife was or where he was.

Robert decided to call police and what they found out was shocking to Robert. "It just kind of stunned me. I had no idea he was from that far away," he told News 9.

Gossett had been reported missing for two days from his home in Memphis, Tennessee, approximately 475 miles from Arcadia.

He'd driven that entire distance.

Police found a receipt in his car and were able to get a hold of his family.

They said Gossett suffers from dementia and they quickly got him on the first flight to Oklahoma City.

"Everybody was over joyed to know he is safe and sound and very surprised of him being this far from Memphis," said Rick Williams, Gossett's son-in-law.

But a "thank you" wasn't necessary to Robert. To him it was just time to get back to work.

The Oklahoma Standard didn't stop there.

Gossett's starter in his car had gone out and a friend of Robert's offered to fix it for free.

News 9 was also told Arcadia's Chief of Police Gerald McCauley sat with Gossett at a hospital until family arrived in the evening.