Elderly Man found near Home

WOODRIDGE — An elderly man who was missing for nearly 16 hours was found late Tuesday morning sitting near a lake, one mile away from his family’s summer home in the Village of Woodridge.

Yankel “Jacob” Salamon, who is about 90 years old, wandered from the Woodlake Village housing complex about 7:30 Monday night. Salamon has dementia, and his family believes he walked away to find the nearest temple. His desire to worship — even when temples are closed — has increased since his diagnosis, they said.

More pictures in the Extended Article.

Salamon’s disappearance set off a wide search by fire and police personnel from across Sullivan County, forest rangers, Orthodox medical teams and members of the local Jewish community. At one point more than 300 people scoured woods, streets and lakes around the village.

Worry grew as the morning progressed. Some feared for Salamon’s life, while others thought he hitched a ride back to his home in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn.

But Salamon was found unharmed by Yakov Greenberg of the Giti Gardens bungalow colony on Glen Wild Road, just after 11 a.m. He had walked through the woods and spent the night behind the bungalow colony, near a lake, authorities said.

After putting the man on a stretcher, rescuers stretched ladders horizontally across stacked-up milk crates to maneuver him across a knee-deep, watery ravine, and then up a rocky hill. Salamon was taken to Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris for a sore hip and dehydration.

Orthodox men danced in a circle and sang praise to God for keeping Salamon safe. Back at Woodlake Village, 20 friends and relatives gathered at the family’s home. Cell phones began ringing with good news.

“They found him!” one woman said. “And his vitals are 100 percent.”

“Oh, we need to call the camps and let them know!” said Beth Weider, a family friend. “He caused a little havoc, but it gave everyone a reason to get together and pray.”

Orthodox men and women showered thanks upon the overnight search and rescue crews, which they credited with saving the elderly man. And when Salamon’s family returned home, friends greeted them with hugs and tears. His daughter-in-law, Estee Salamon, cried and told her friends that Yankel was OK.

“He survived the Holocaust, he can survive this,” she said.