Police officer finds missing elderly Fort Worth man in ditch

Posted Monday, Dec. 10, 2012 0 comments  Print Reprints
A

Have more to add? News tip? Tell us

When 83-year-old Roscoe Smith wandered off from his home early Monday morning, it didn't look good.

It was 36 degrees. The wind chill was 26 and dropping.

And Smith, who has memory issues and a history of walking away from home, was nowhere to be found.

But several blocks away in the 5700 block of East Rosedale Street, Sgt. Zoran Petrovic stopped by a brush-filled ditch along the side of the roadway and decided to take a look.

"He basically walked the ditch and found the elderly male covered in brush," said Sgt. Pedro Criado, a Fort Worth Police Department spokesman.

The man was too weak to get loose so Petrovic helped pull him out of the ditch.

"If it wasn't for him, he probably wouldn't have made it," Criado said.

Smith was taken to a local hospital. He had cuts and scratches and scrapes to his head and was treated for hypothermia. No condition update was available Monday morning.

Bill Hanna, 817-390-7698

Twitter: @fwhanna

Looking for comments?

5700 block of East Rosedale Street, Fort Worth, TX
Loading map ...

We welcome your comments on this story, but please be civil. Do not use profanity, hate speech, threats, personal abuse, images, internet links or any device to draw undue attention. Comments deemed inappropriate will be removed and repeated abusers will be banned. NOTE: If you log in using your Twitter account, your comments will be signed using the name on your Twitter profile, NOT your Twitter user name. Read our full comment policy.