Missing St. Henry man found in cornfield near home

ST. HENRY - The elderly subject of a massive search effort was found Tuesday morning alive and conscious in a cornfield with the assistance of a drone, Mercer County Sheriff Doug Timmerman announced.

At 8:05 a.m. Tuesday, authorities located 89-year-old Roger Stachler awake and conscious in a cornfield about 200 yards east of a woods behind a property at 1821 State Route 118, not far from Stachler's residence at 1766 State Route 118, Timmerman said.

Stachler was taken by ambulance to Mercer County Community Hospital, Coldwater, for treatment and evaluation, bringing to an end a multiagency operation set into motion shortly after Stachler's wife called to report her husband missing at 8:33 p.m. Sunday.

Stachler was listed in stable condition at the hospital as of about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Timmerman told The Daily Standard.

Timmerman in a statement thanked "all the community members, first responders, Elite Drone Services and all who volunteered their time to help in bringing Mr. Stachler home to his family."

He also expressed how "proud he is of the Mercer County community and the outpour of support from the local businesses and how everyone comes together in times of need."

Les Bowen, the owner/operator of Elite Drone Services, aided in search efforts Monday and returned to the area early Tuesday morning to resume sweeping for signs of Stachler.

"He went out there much earlier this morning because of the time of the day …. (when) the body temperature would be easier to detect," Timmerman said.

Bowen advised deputies of "an area of interest." Deputies and St. Henry Fire Department personnel then made their way into the cornfield where they found Stachler.

Additional St. Henry firefighters and a St. Henry squad were paged to the area to help get Stachler out of the cornfield and into the ambulance.

Offering short responses, Stachler indicated to deputies that he had a project that he wanted to work on and that he was hungry, thirsty and just wanted to see his family, Timmerman said.

"I think he had set out to go do a project, and we don't know what that is. So we were kind of limited on what we were getting from him," Timmerman said. "We don't know for sure if Mr. Stachler was moving during this entire time as well."

The sheriff's office received a phone call at 8:33 p.m. Sunday from Stachler's wife, saying that she had returned home from work a little after 8 p.m. and was unable to find her husband.

She also called her neighbors for assistance, and a short time later the sheriff's office was called to the scene, Timmerman said. Law enforcement began searching the home and outbuilding owned by the couple.

After not immediately finding Stachler, Timmerman initiated a full-scale search for the missing man.

"We were obviously concerned pretty early on because we already had people out there with a call that happened around … 8:30 (p.m)," he said when asked about the decision to launch a full-scale search for Stachler.

Beginning Sunday evening, several departments and agencies, as well as Stachler family members and friends and volunteers, formed a search party that scoured a vast area of ground around Stachler's 10.3-acre homestead, including a large woods, a large soybean field, ditches, cornfields, a hayfield, neighbors' yards and outbuildings (including two ponds), local churches, local restaurants and local hospitals.

Taking part were the sheriff's office, St. Henry police and fire departments, Coldwater police and fire departments, Celina Fire Department's dive team, Southwest Mercer Fire Department, Burkettsville Fire Department, Chickasaw Fire Department and the local Child Abuse Response Team, which also has the capabilities to search for missing and/or endangered adults.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol Aviation Section was contacted and dispatched a thermal-imaging-equipped helicopter from Columbus.

"We also called in assistance from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources who assisted with a search-and-rescue dog," Timmerman said.

As many as eight drones belonging to various entities were utilized during the search.

"Actually, yesterday (Monday) at one time we had three or four drones in the air at the same time," Timmerman pointed out.

After having exhausted every possible avenue, Timmerman suspended the full-scale search at 4 p.m. Monday.

"We felt like we had done everything that we could, and then it was we needed to scale back the operation a little bit to focus more on the tips," he said. "All the while these other volunteers, they kept plugging away, which is very helpful for us and obviously it played out well."

Timmerman said he doesn't know how to thank everybody that helped out, adding that the Stachler family is very appreciative of all the efforts.

"This ended as best as it could, and let's hope he's home soon and safe," he said.