Police pilot spots missing elderly man in Haifa forest after widespread hunt
‘It was definitely a powerful moment,’ says Kobi Weissman after helping locate 84-year-old Eliyahu Ben Haim, who disappeared for almost 24 hours
Michael Bachner is a news editor at The Times of Israel
An Israeli elderly man who went missing for nearly 24 hours was located Monday by a police helicopter pilot who spotted the octogenarian in a forest near his home.
Hundreds of police officers, some on horseback, dog handlers and volunteers were engaged in widespread searches since Sunday afternoon for Eliyahu Ben Haim, 84, a resident of the northern city of Haifa, after his family reported him missing.
In a statement, police said a chopper pilot, using the aircraft’s special equipment, located a man lying on the ground under a tree and sent his location to police forces on the ground.
Ben Haim was found exhausted, police said, but after medical examinations and treatment was taken home in good health.
“It was definitely a powerful moment,” the pilot, Kobi Weissman, said of the spotting Ben Haim on Monday morning. “It was our second flight during the searches.”
In a video published by police, the pilot can be heard saying: “I can see him! I found him. I saw him, definitely, lying on his back.”
Weissman said the helicopter was hovering at treetop-height, according to the Ynet news site.
“We marked his spot, so that we wouldn’t lose him again, and we called in the horsemen and police officers,” he said. “Fortunately we saw him moving, maybe due to our call, and knew he was alive. The area of the forest was so dense that the officers on horses had to leave their horses and proceed on foot, with us directing them.”
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