DENMARK – A man suffering from Alzheimer’s disease was found safe early Wednesday morning about a mile from his camp that he walked away from Tuesday, Warden Neal Wykes said.

Harry Palmer, 67, of Massachusetts was soaked from heavy rains overnight but otherwise OK, the Maine Warden Service officer said.

“He really wasn’t ever cognizant of what was going on,” Wykes said. “He’s in advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease. He said, ‘I’ve only been out an hour.'”

Palmer was reported missing Tuesday afternoon from the summer cottage he and his wife own at 130 Long Pond Road.

“She said she normally has been watching him like a hawk,” Wykes explained. She was with him while he puttered outside the camp, but went inside briefly and returned to find him gone between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., he said.

She, along with their son and daughter, looked for him for two hours before calling for help, he said.

Nine Maine Warden Service officers, Denmark firefighters, State Police, Oxford County Sheriff’s Department, Maine Search and Rescue Dogs with three dogs, and volunteers combed the area without success.

Palmer was finally spotted at 5:50 a.m. by a resident on the opposite side of Long Pond from the Palmers’ cottage.

Wykes said Palmer was found about a mile-long walk through woods from his cottage. He was uncertain if the man had slept at all, but said Palmer’s wife told searchers that as soon as it’s light out, he is up and moving around.

Wykes praised the Denmark Fire Department members. “They did an awesome job. I give a lot of credit to the fire chief (Ken Richardson). He helped us out a lot.”

mdelamater@sunjournal.com