Missing La Pine man found after hours of searching

A 57-year-old La Pine man who failed to return from a Tuesday afternoon ride on his scooter sparked a 2 -hour search that ended with him being found cold but otherwise okay late Tuesday night, authorities said.

Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday on a report of a missing person, identified as Michael Umscheid, from an assisted living facility in La Pine, said sheriff’s Lt. Paul Garrison.

Deputies learned Umscheid last was seen around 2 p.m. when he left the facility on his scooter, as he’s permitted to do.

Businesses in the city of La Pine were checked, but deputies could not find Umscheid, so the search expanded, Garrison said.

Around 11:30 p.m., Umscheid was found lying on the ground near his scooter by deputies who had followed more than a mile of tracks from his scooter on a dirt road north of Reed Road, east of Highway 97, the lieutenant said.

Deputies and La Pine Fire Department medics brought Umscheid back to Reed Road, then to his assisted living facility, Garrison said. He was cold and had some minor cuts, but was otherwise unhurt and did not require any further medical treatment.

Umscheid said he’d been trying earlier in the day to take a shortcut to his former home in the Newberry Estates subdivision, but he became lost and his scooter became stuck.

Temperatures had dropped to the mid-20s when Umscheid was found, wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants, Garrison said.