

Sandie Benitah, CP24.com





An 80-year-old man who went missing in Toronto has been found safe after spending the night sleeping on the floor of a Kensington apartment building.

Manuel Oliveira, who is suffering from the early stages of dementia, was last seen Thursday just after 4 p.m. in the area of Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West. He was found about 17 hours later near College Street in Augusta by a CP24 reporter and cameraman who had been reporting on the missing man all morning.

First noticing his blue walker in a doorway of a building, cameraman Kyle Surowicz yelled to reporter Cam Woolley, "Cam, that's him!"

Woolley, a retired Ontario Provincial Police officer, opened the door and also immediately recognized the man. He called police and let them know exactly where they were located.

"Cam jumped into action, half cop, half reporter," Surowicz later said.

Oliveira’s photo had been distributed widely by police as they frantically searched the downtown core for the senior and Woolley and Surowicz had been reporting on the case live on TV since 5:30 a.m.

Shortly before 9 a.m. police received a tip that the man was seen in the Kensington Market neighbourhood. Woolley and Surowicz were with police in that area but headed in a different direction to file video to the newsroom. Once they got to the CP24 truck, the news crew noticed a man struggling to open a door while managing a blue walker.

“Are you Manuel Oliveira? Everyone has been looking for you,” Woolley said to the man.

The man appeared to be in good health, though he was disoriented.

Oliveira was checked by medical staff at the scene and given a muffin and hot coffee by police. A man who identified himself as Oliveira’s nephew was emotional as he arrived at the scene.

“I’m very relieved,” he told CP24 through tears.

Woolley said police had earlier checked the door to the building where the man was located but it was locked. Police said a woman reported letting the elderly man into the building overnight after he said he lived on second floor.

When the man found that his keys didn’t work in any of the apartments, he fell asleep in the hallway and tried to make his way out this morning.