Nicoma Park Officer Assists Missing, Disoriented Texas Man Get Back Home

A Nicoma Park police officer found himself in the right place and at the right time last week to help a disoriented, elderly man.

The 76-year-old Texas man lost his way and ended up hundreds of miles from home. Authorities said Enver Osmani left his home around 12:30 p.m. May 25.

Ten hours later, he stopped to ask for help in Nicoma Park.

A routine traffic stop last week near Northeast 23rd Street and Nichols Drive took an unusual turn for Nicoma Park police officer Blaine Lander. Lander said an elderly man pulled up behind the car he had stopped and asked for directions to a golf course.

The police department released body camera footage of Lander’s interaction with the man.

“A golf course? Are you going to play golf?” Lander asked Osmani.

“My house it’s across the street,” Osmani said to Lander. “Over there.”

Lander knew something was wrong and asked for the man's driver’s license.

“Where are you trying to go?” Lander asked Osmani.

Lander quickly realized Osmani was a long way from his home in Irving, Texas.

“I realized that he wasn’t quite sure where he was,” Lander told News 9.

Lander was able to get the man's phone and make contact with his family.

“He pulled up on my traffic stop and asked me where the golf course was,” Lander said in the bodycam video.  

According to Lander, the Dallas Police Department had not entered a Silver Alert into the national system at the time but Osmani’s family reported him missing early in the day.

“With that interaction with his son, I was able to determine he wasn’t in the right state of mind,” Lander said. “He suffered from dementia.”

The officer brought Osmani back to the Nicoma Park Police Department for family who lived in the metro to pick him up. Osmani's wife and children in Texas were thankful Lander was there to help their loved one make the journey back home.

“These are the types of situations that most of us get into this line of work,” Lander said. “It’s not always to just put people behind bars or stuff like that. These are the moments we enjoy.”

Lander said this was the second Silver Alert he has been part of where the missing person was returned home safely.