Smiles

[Murphy] - On Monday, September 25, 2007 at approximately 9:18 P.M., the Murphy Police Department was notified of two missing persons who were last seen in a city park. A relative, Yujie Guo reported that their elderly parents had walked with their daughter to Mustang Park, located on Mustang Ridge Drive around 8:00 P.M. The daughter returned home alone to get her vehicle to drive them back home, but when they returned to the park, her parents were nowhere to be found.

Police personnel responded to the scene and made contact with the complainant who identified the missing couple as Heng Wang Zhou and his wife, Fan Ying Kong, both in their mid to upper 60’s. The couple was described as both wearing white or light colored shirts and dark colored pants. After an initial check of the surrounding area yielded nothing, the Police Department called upon the Murphy Fire Department for assistance in continuing the search.

An intensive search of the area was undertaken. Additional assistance was requested and received from the Wylie Police Department and the Allen Police Department, both of whom dispatched Police K-9 Units to assist in possible tracking, as well as the Parker Fire Department who sent two Engine companies to help search city streets and the surrounding areas. The Dallas Police Department also dispatched a Police Helicopter to provide an aerial search capability.

A Unified Command Post, jointly staffed between Murphy Fire-Rescue and the Murphy Police Department was established inside the Murphy Fire Department and all search efforts were coordinated from that point. Units from all assisting agencies were assigned specific areas to search and then reported back to the command post if that specific search produced no results. All personnel were informed that the couple was visiting from China, were unfamiliar with the area and did not speak English.

At approximately 11:25 P.M., nearly 3 ½ hours after they were last seen by relatives, a Murphy Fire-Rescue Medic Unit located the couple walking on Parkview Lane in the Rolling Ridge subdivision, a considerable distance from where they were last seen. The couple had apparently tried to walk back to their relatives home on Westminister Drive, but were disoriented and subsequently became lost. The couple was found to be in good condition and required no medical attention. Their son-in-law was driven to the location by Assistant Chief Mark Lee from Murphy Fire-Rescue and reunited with the couple to ensure their safe return home.

Murphy Police Chief Billy Myrick and Murphy Fire-Rescue Chief Kelley Stalder would like to thank all of those who came to assist in this joint effort and both said that it is through these combined efforts that allow our agencies to be successful in events such as this