Caregiver outwitted

Dementia: Missing man drove to Italy by car

A brief moment of inattentive care was all it took for him to get behind the wheel: the Lower Austrian, who suffers from dementia, wanted to "go on vacation".(Bild: zVg)

An 85-year-old pensioner who went missing in Lower Austria has been found - in Italy: the man from Strasshof in the district of Gänserndorf, who suffers from dementia, took advantage of a brief moment of inattention by his carers and "went on vacation" by car. 

The 85-year-old is said to have been involved in a traffic accident in the late evening hours of June 4 in the Italian municipality of Scorze near the A4 highway. He is believed to have suffered minor injuries and is currently receiving medical treatment in an Italian hospital.

Pensioner did not make it home
The man, who is under 24-hour care, was supposed to go in the car to pick up his grandson from school. Suddenly, however, he got into the car and drove off.

The family is glad that he is back and that nothing worse happened: "Unfortunately, this is an insidious, unpredictable disease," they told the "Krone" newspaper.