Authorities in Louisiana Locate Missing 80-Year-Old Man Safe and Unharmed

Updated February 7, 2023:

The Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office reported that during the evening of February 6, 2023, Caddo Sheriff’s patrol deputies located Alfred Blankenship safe and unharmed. He was found in the wooded area behind the closed Oil City Elementary Magnet School.

Blankenship, 80, was last seen at his home around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 4. Caddo Patrol deputies organized a search and rescue plan, and with the use of a drone, equipped with night vision capabilities (FLIR), found him.

Blankenship walked out of the woods to deputies on his own. A North Caddo Medical Ambulance was called to the area and transported him to North Caddo Medical Center for evaluation.

Original:

Louisiana – Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator reported on February 6, 2023, that deputies are looking for a missing 80-year-old Oil City, Louisiana man who was last seen at his home in the 200 block of N. Ardis Avenue at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, February 4, 2023.

Caddo Parish Sheriff’s patrol deputies responded to a report that Alfred Blankenship, 80, was missing on Sunday, February 5, at 3:41 p.m. He was last seen at his house around 10:30 p.m. the night before.  According to authorities, he is known to walk the streets of Oil City, Louisiana at all hours of the night, but his family is concerned because he has dementia and has not returned home as usual.

The areas he frequents, as well as hospitals and local shelters, have been investigated. Given the circumstances, Caddo Sheriff’s Office deputies continue to search Oil City in the hopes of finding Blankenship safe.

Blankenship was last seen wearing blue sweatpants, a camouflaged blue and beige short-sleeved shirt, and gray tennis shoes without laces.

The photo is from his Louisiana identification card, but it is accurate to how he appears today.

Anyone with information about Blankenship, also known as “Fluffy,” and his whereabouts is asked to call the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office at (318) 675-2170.