Missing elderly Bay Area man found in Incline Village

Submitted by paula on Fri, 10/09/2015 - 6:58am

Washoe County Sheriff Chuck Allen is praising the efforts of Incline Village Deputies and Search and Rescue volunteers who discovered the location of a missing and endangered elderly California man Monday in Incline Village.

“If you were to talk to the men and women responsible for this rescue effort, they will tell you that it is all simply part of their job or why they do what they do,” Sheriff Allen said. “As Sheriff, I will tell you that we should all be proud of their actions this week for I believe they saved a life that day.”

At approximately 7:30 a.m. on Monday, October 5, 2015, deputies responded to a resident’s report of a suspicious vehicle abandoned on a dirt fire road off Allison Drive in Incline Village. Responding deputies found evidence that a person may have left the vehicle and wandered into the wilderness.

With temperatures expected to be near freezing overnight, deputies were concerned for the welfare of the vehicle’s occupant. After further investigation, they determined that the vehicle belonged to an elderly San Leandro, California man named Ivan Cooper. Cooper had recently been reported missing by his daughter.

Volunteers from the Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, HASTY and WOOF (Wilderness Finders, Inc.) Search Dog teams were called to the scene and began to search the area. Searchers located Cooper in the forest about a half a mile from the vehicle lying in a bed of pine needles.

Cooper was barefoot, dehydrated and suffering from exposure. Rescuers carried him from the woods and he was transported to a local hospital by the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District.

“I’m told that Mr. Cooper may not have survived the night given his condition,” Sheriff Allen said. “I want to credit the actions of the alert citizen, concerned deputies, and skilled volunteers who worked together to locate this man and bring him to safety.”

Mr. Cooper spoke with the Sheriff’s Office Wednesday and expressed his deepest appreciation to the volunteers and deputies who took part in his rescue earlier this week.