Gas station employees help locate missing Chicago man in Freeport

FREEPORT, Ill. (WTVO) — First responders from the Freeport Fire Department were able to locate an 84-year-old man from Chicago who had been missing for five days.

According to the City of Freeport, on Thursday, August 14th, first responders from the fire department were called to the Shell gas station on W. Galena Avenue.

Employees at the gas station were reportedly concerned about the behavior of an 84-year-old man who was “showing signs of something being wrong.”

Responders Adam Holtz and Nathan Stepp of the Freeport Fire Department were able to see the man’s license and realized he was from Chicago, having driven to Freeport and then having trouble remembering how to get home.

The first responders were able to get the phone number of the man’s daughter, who told them her father had been missing for close to five days.

The missing man was taken to a hospital until the family was able to reunite with him.

“The City of Freeport would like to thank Stepp and Holtz for their tactful approach in this situation. In addition, we thank the individuals at the gas station for speaking up when clearly something was wrong,” the city wrote on Facebook.