In the evening hours of Monday, November 5th, Vona Wohlenberg called the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office to report her husband, 86 year old Dan Wohlenberg missing from their home in the 13800 block of 99th Street in Fellsmere.
Mrs. Wohlenberg said that she believed he had been missing for approximately one hour and had left the residence on foot. Mr. Wohlenberg was outfitted with a Project Lifesaver bracelet, used for those with dementia, Alzheimer’s, Autism, and anyone who may go missing.
Deputies immediately deployed their Project Lifesaver equipment and found Mr. Wohlenberg sleeping under palmetto bushes on their seventeen-acre property. EMS responded and verified that he did not have any injuries before he was reunited with his wife.
“Project Lifesaver saved Mr. Wohlenberg’s life Monday night. Were it not for this program, we would have spent hours trying to locate Mr. Wohelberg. We know we have many more people in our county who should have Project Lifesaver bracelets, as evinced by our frequent searches for those without bracelets. The program was designed by former law enforcement for speedy recovery of those who may wander. We hope anyone out there with a family member or friend in need of this technology hears about the program and has them sign up before they go missing,” Sheriff Deryl Loar said.
The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office has participated in Project Lifesaver for more than a decade. You can find out more about the program by visiting Project Lifesaver website. Locally, the program is administered by the Alzheimer and Parkinson Association of Indian River County. You can visit their website at https://alzpark.org/memory-programs/project-lifesaver/.