Source : Perth Now news
There is still no sign of missing 87-year-old man James Ballantyne as the third day of desperate searching comes to a close.
More than 40 police and State Emergency Service units were on the ground on Monday scouring the vicinity of the Wagin townsite.
James Ballantyne has not been seen since 10.30am on Saturday, when he left his home to go for a walk and failed to return.
The Wagin resident has now been missing for more than 48 hours and is believed to be moving on foot, with a huge team of SES, police and community members now scaling back the large-scale search effort as night time closes in.
Great Southern police Acting Inspector Craig Wasley told media on Monday afternoon that search efforts would continue throughout the night and on into Tuesday.
“Our search is continuing today, we’ve got over 20 police officers here assisting with the search, over 25 SES officers,” he said.
“We’ve got four horses and riders from mounted section, and we’ve got a drone out here as well.
“We’re working through our search areas, and that will continue throughout the night (on Monday).
“We’ve got people working and available, and it will continue through to (Tuesday) as well.”
Search operations honed in on an area near Parkeyerring Lake on Sunday, about 7km south of Wagin, after a sighting from a passing motorist and another area north between Wagin and Narrogin.
Acting Insp. Wasley said the search area included the Wagin townsite, as well as surrounding bushland.
“We’re still looking around town, that’s a big focus for us as well as along the train lines,” he said.
“Any information that we do receive, we act on that as soon as we can.
“We obviously try and verify the information, and we apply resources to investigate that information that we have received.”
Mr Ballantyne’s worried family contacted police on Saturday evening when he did not return from his walk on Leonora Street, with a search starting that evening and continuing through the night, including a night-time drone operator and ground sweeps.
His family were updated by police on Monday morning about the extensive search efforts.
“They’re obviously upset, so we’ve kept them abreast of the investigation, the search efforts, they’re very pleased with the SES and other police officers as well that have put in the effort to try and find Jim,” acting Insp. Wasley said.
He urged the community to continue to stay vigilant for any sightings of Mr Ballantyne, and to check dash cam and CCTV footage between Saturday morning and Monday afternoon for any sightings of the 87-year-old.
Mr Ballantyne is now believed to have spent two nights in the bushland, where temperatures dropped to around eight to nine degrees overnight.
On Sunday, Wagin police officer-in-charge acting Sergeant Edward Duffy said crews were focusing their sweeps on an area near Parkeyerring Lake.
“In the first 12 to 24 hours, we had multiple reports (of Mr Ballantyne), a lot of them from members of the public who saw him during the day, which was yesterday on Saturday,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the only report we’ve had today was from a passing motorist, and they’ve identified the clothing that he was wearing, and the description of him and for the last couple of hours we’ve been focusing our efforts on that report.”
Acting Sgt Duffy said calculations on Mr Ballantyne’s average walking speed put him about 5 to 10km out of the townsite, as he may have become confused and unable to find his way home.
“He has an onset of dementia, which varies, and it’s something you can’t really quantify,” he said.
“Some days he’s really good. Speaking to the family the day before, he was in very good spirits, and he is fit and quite healthy for his age.
“He chops wood every day, and he used to really love walking his dog Rory, and now Rory’s a bit over the age to go walking, but James, or they call him Jim, still goes out walking.”
Mr Ballantyne is described as 183cm tall, of medium build and with short greying hair.
He was last seen wearing a navy-blue jumper and khaki-tan pants.
Anyone who sees Mr Ballantyne or who has information about his location is urged to contact police immediately on 131 444.
