Elderly missing person located

Freeport – Walton County Sheriff Deputies along with the Walton Correction Institute K-9 Unit, Freeport EMS and Fire Department, Bay County Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit, and Florida Fish and Wildlife located Thelma DeGraff, a missing elderly woman, early Monday morning in her neighbor’s back yard. Robert Edward Perkins, reported his wife Thelma missing to the Sheriff’s Office around two in the morning.

Deputy Sheriff Townsend was dispatched to 2736 JW Hollington Road, in reference to a missing female. Dispatch advised Deputy Townsend while en-route, the female was elderly and had Alzheimer’s disease. Deputy Townsend was informed the female had been missing for approximately forty-five minutes. Sergeant Jordan and Sergeant Lehman, along with several other Walton County Deputies responded as back up to the call.

Upon arriving at the home, Deputy Townsend spoke with Perkins and learned that he and his wife Thelma had gone to bed around ten o’clock. The dogs woke Perkins a little before two in the morning and that is when he noticed his wife was gone. He searched the inside of their home and the yard and could not locate her; he then called the Sheriff’s Office.

Sergeant Lehman contacted the Walton Correctional Institute and requested to have their K-9 unit activated. Sergeant Godwin, K-9 handler Landingham, and K-9 Charlie arrived on scene at approximately three fifty-six in the morning. The k-9 unit along with Deputy’s Park and Chapman searched the wooded area around the home. Charlie hit on a bare-foot print in the yard that lead north, he followed the track until he reached the neighbor’s yard. Mrs. Degraff was found sitting in the yard shaking from the cold night air.

Mrs. Degraff suffered minor scratches from the woods and was transported by EMS to Sacred Heart Hospital in Sandestin, for medical treatment.