Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Sheriff finds Potter near home after combined search effort

A 71-year-old Gurdon resident disappeared from his home Saturday afternoon and was discovered in a thicket early Sunday morning.

The missing man was scratched up some, but appeared to be unharmed.

Paul Potter disappeared from his residence near the edge of Gurdon, at 100 Potter Road, around 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3.

He was found by Clark County Sheriff Troy Tucker at 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 4, near his garden  which is approximately 75 yards from the Potter house in a thicket by the woods.

Tommy Potter, owner of Hair It Is, said his father suffers from mini-strokes and experiences memory lapse symptoms similar to Alzheimer disease.

The younger Potter was more than 100 miles away, headed to visit family in Texas, when he was called about his dad.

"My mother was out watering flowers and dad wandered to the garden, something he has done often," Potter said. "But this time he turned the wrong way and ended up lost in a thicket."

Potter said he and his stepmother, June, take care of the older man "and we have a backup for when I am out of town.

"But this was a holiday and the backup was gone too," Tommy Potter said.

After not being able to get a quick response from family and friends, June Potter called the authorities.

Sheriff Tucker said, "We were notified between 5 and 5:30 p.m. on Saturday that Mr. Potter had come up missing. We made a plan and decided to try a tracking dog first.

"Therefore, the scene could not be disturbed by anyone else going out on it."

Tucker said he and the deputies then brought in the state police, accessing a helicopter with a heat sensitive search system.

Neither method worked. Tucker said it was because Potter was under such a heavy thicket out in the woods.

After the second method with the helicopter failed, searchers began to physically comb the area.

Tucker said the Clark County Sheriff's Department was assisted by staff from the Arkansas Game and Fish, the Gurdon Fire Department, the Gurdon Police Department, the Arkansas State Police and that tracking dog from Pike County.

Tommy Potter said, "I would also like to thank Glen Neathey, of Gurdon, for going over in his plane."

Tucker said once the search party started to physically canvas the area, he drove his four-wheeler up to Potter after about 30 minutes.

"When I found Paul Potter, it was about 1:30 on Sunday morning," Sheriff Tucker said. "He seemed disoriented and had no shoes on."

Tucker said Potter was checked by Baptist Memorial Hospital Ambulance Service paramedics and released.

"This sort of thing can happen with this type of medical condition," the sheriff said. "Of course we are glad Mr. Potter is safe."

Tommy Potter said he was grateful the authorities did not wait 24 hours before beginning the search, as with a traditional missing person.

"They realized the health risk of him being out there and took action," he said. "When we found my dad, he was scratched up and had ticks and geigers, but otherwise he was OK. He even cracked a joke or two, which reflected the jovial self of his youth. Years ago, Paul Potter was known for his sense of humor."

The younger Potter extends his deepest thanks to the team who found his dad.

"It was a wonderful show of organization and team work," he said. "Most of the time, my dad is no problem, but occasionally he gets confused. We would like to thank all of our neighbors for their support."