Donna Chen and Captain Mark Reyes (Photo – Cheryl Cabot)
Huu Tu Trang decided to go for a walk. He’s 92. He has Alzheimer’s. He got lost. When his daughter, Donna Chen realized he was missing she, along with family members searched frantically for her father, but to no avail. They had searched the neighborhood and around the block but could not find him.
By Cheryl Cabot
“The first thing we were afraid of was an accident, so we called around to the hospitals, but he was not there, so we called the Sheriff’s station and they immediately sent six deputies,” Chen continued.
Soon, the deputies came to the house and began the search. By this time, Trang had been missing for an hour. The deputies spread out, reassuring Donna they would find her father. Within an hour, Trang was found by Deputy A. Pena, only a block from his home.
Trang had fallen into some dense shrubbery and could not get up. When his daughter and her family had been searching for him, they had walked right by, not seeing him hidden under the shrubbery. Deputy Pena, walked that same area, carefully looking, when he spotted a piece of cloth, part of Trang’s shirt. Pushing aside the bushes, he found Trang, unhurt, but disoriented. He said repeatedly, “I just want to go home.” He just didn’t know where home was.
“We had walked on the sidewalk when we were looking, but didn’t know how to property look,” Chen said. “They are professionals and know how to look.”
Deputy A. Pena who found Mr. Trang (Photo – Cheryl Cabot)
On Friday, October 8, Trang’s family showed up at the Temple City Sheriff’s station to show their appreciation to the deputies who had helped find her father by bringing gifts and making a generous donation to the Temple City Station fund. Five of the six responding deputies, Moon, Liu, Bui, Pena and Barr were in attendance.
“The main thing I want to tell the community,” Chen said, “whenever something like this happens to someone elderly or with Alzheimer’s in your family, you have to call as soon as possible. Don’t wait. The faster you call the police or sheriff the better they can find them.”
“They came immediately. A lot of Chinese in this community don’t know they have this kind of benefit, like services from the Sheriff’s department.” Chen was adamant, “Don’t be afraid to call them for help. They are here to help us and they are nice. We were panicked and they calmed us down.”
This sentiment was echoed by Temple City station Captain Mark Reyes. “I want to remind the public you can call the Sheriff’s station. If you look around at our deputies, we have a lot of Asian deputies and we speak a lot of different dialects. So don’t be afraid to call the Sheriff’s station for any criminal matter or if your loved one is missing. If your loved one has Alzheimer’s, or needs medication and you can’t find them, we call it ‘at risk.’ Don’t hesitate to call. We have translators for any dialect you can think of in this area. We are ready to take your calls and we will help in any language they speak.”
Excellent coverage as usual