Missing man found safe in Columbus

UPDATE @ 6 a.m. June 11

Columbus police confirm they have found John Edward Farrell and he is safe.

They say they stopped his vehicle on Noe Bixby Road, which is near a park off Interstate 270, this morning.

They say he was lost, but he is not hurt.

Greene County deputies say his family is headed to Columbus to pick him up.

UPDATE @ 3:38 p.m. June 10

Mr. Farrell has been spotted twice since he went missing this morning and now authorities in neighboring states are being notified of the Silver Alert.

Farrell used his debit card around 5 a.m. in Sparta, Ky. where he got directions on how to get back to Ohio, according to Greene County Sgt. Beth Prall.

He was then spotted around 11 a.m. in Bloomingdale, Ohio near Steubenville. People who saw him there spoke to him and reported to Greene County investigators that he didn’t seem disoriented and didn’t ask any questions.

Prall said that’s the last confirmed sighting of the 87-year-old.

Farrell’s family has been proactive and are out across the state looking for their grandfather on their own, Prall said.

State patrols in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, as well as the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office have been notified to be on the lookout for Farrell and his pickup truck.

To report a sighting of Mr. Farrell, call the Greene County Sheriff’s Office at (937) 376-5111.

FIRST REPORT June 10

A statewide endangered missing adult alert has been issued for an 87-year-old man who has not been seen since last night.

John Edward Farrell had plans to meet his brother in Jamestown for a fishing trip.

He was spotted driving past the brother’s home on Parker Road around 6:30 p.m., but has not been seen or heard from since then.

His family says he has memory issues and trouble seeing at night, according to Greene County deputies. He does not have a cell phone.

He was driving a blue 2004 Ford pickup hauling a homemade trailer with an 18-foot fishing boat. The pickup has flames painted on the doors.

Farrell lives in Scioto County and was planning to fish at Caesar’s Creek, according to the sheriff’s office.

Anyone with information is asked to the sheriff’s office at (937)376-5111.