Update: Missing La Pine man returns home

Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies asked the public for help Tuesday in finding a 74-year-old La Pine man who disappeared Monday morning. But they later reported he’d returned home safely.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Jayson Jaynes said later in the day that Dennis Whitney had returned home and the investigation had closed.

Earlier, Jaynes said Whitney was believed to be driving a white 1993 Toyota extra-cab pickup with a white canopy. It also has an orange ribbon on the left side of the tailgate, and bears Oregon license ZCQ 188.

Whitney was described as a white male with gray hair, 5-foot-11 and weighing about 175 pounds. He last was seen wearing a denim shirt, black Levis, brown boots and a gray and white “boonie-type” hat, Jaynes said.

Whitney is known to frequent the Cascade Lakes area and state Highway 31 east of La Pine.