SPICER, Minn. — A mother and daughter searching their soybean field found an 83-year-old dementia patient missing for more than 24 hours.
Sue Peterson and her daughter Leanna Peterson spotted what they first thought was a log as they searched in their John Deere Gator. When they got closer, they saw movement and realized they had just found Donald Wieberdink.
“I said, 'Everybody’s been looking for you,’ and he was a little upset. He said, ‘I don't like a lot of attention,’” Sue Peterson said.
The retired nurse said Wieberdink was sunburned and dehydrated, but otherwise seemed okay.
He was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Willmar.
The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Department said Wieberdink was last seen around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday riding his bike.
The sheriff’s department enlisted the help of about 100 volunteer firefighters who searched late into the night.
On Wednesday, two airplanes from the Civil Air Patrol joined the search and the call went out for volunteers. Several hundred people responded, with a large group assembled and ready for action when word arrived that Wieberdink had been found.
Kandiyohi County Sheriff Eric Holien said temperatures in the low 90s, along with the belief that Wieberdink had no water, meant the clock was ticking on a successful outcome.
“It was a great day, I mean you couldn't ask for a better response than this,” the sheriff said.
Brenda Powers lives in the farmhouse a few hundred yards from the field where Donald Wieberdink was found.
She’d been worried for him since she heard of his disappearance.
“I didn't sleep, I didn't sleep last night,” Powers said. “I feel relieved, I'm glad they found him and hopefully he'll be okay.”
Relieved is the same word Sue Peterson used.
“Just relieved and amazed that we actually found him,” she said.