Missing man Peter Elwin’s family thanks community for finding him

The family of a rescued man with dementia have spoken about the “rollercoaster of emotions” they went through when Peter Elwin was missing in Heathcote. They have now thanked the community for their support.

The family of an elderly man with dementia who was miraculously found alive in the Heathcote bush has spoken about the “rollercoaster of emotions” they experienced during the two days he was missing.

A large-scale search involving emergency workers, volunteers and residents was launched to search for 76-year-old Peter Elwin after he walked out of an aged care facility on The Avenue in Heathcote about 11am on Friday.

He was found lying in bushland in the Royal National Park on Sunday by Engadine local Jono Mosley who had gone out to search for him.

Now, Mr Elwin’s loved ones have thanked all the members of the community who helped look for him, adding he was recovering well in hospital.

Peter Elwin’s family are very grateful he was rescued after he went missing from his Heathcote aged care facility St Vincent's Care Services. Picture: Supplied

Patricia Powell-Hughes, a family friend who is like a daughter to Mr Elwin, said she wished she could “thank everyone individually”.

“This experience showed us that when times are tough, we can depend on our neighbours, friends and the community. It is the Australian way,” she said.

“We are so thankful to the local community, volunteers, those from National Park and Wildlife Service, SES, firefighters, NSW police and the staff at St Vincent Care for their incredible work.

“We especially want to thank the incredibly kind and wonderful man Jono Mosley whose own resolve meant he went looking for a bloke he didn’t know and against all odds found him.”

She went on to thank a woman who responded to Mr Mosley’s Facebook call for help. The woman arrived within minutes to keep Mr Elwin calm and warm with a sleeping blanket.

Peter Elwin went missing on Friday and was found on Sunday. Picture: Supplied

Mrs Powell-Hughes said Mr Elwin was in a lot of shock when she saw him for the first time after he was found but was alert and aware, knowing he had been in the bush and rescued.

“He was a bit overwhelmed, in some pain, dehydrated and sunburnt but we were so lucky the weather was favourable,” she said.

“I have spoken to him a couple more times since seeing him. We haven’t gone into too much detail about what happened. It is important he feels safe and we don’t want him to relive the fear of the experience.”

She hopes he will come out of hospital in the coming days.

Peter Elwin’s siblings including his twin brother Paul felt “helpless” when he went missing as they live in New Zealand. Picture: Supplied

Ms Powell-Hughes said the staff at St Vincent’s Care, where Mr Elwin had only been for three weeks, had been wonderful through the ordeal.

“The staff have been incredibly supportive and very generous. All we know is Peter walked out,” she said.

“We will have the opportunity for learning with the facility at a later time.

“We will work with St Vincent’s Care to see how it happened, how it was handled and what they learnt.”

Mrs Powell-Hughes did not blame nor point fingers at the staff at the aged care home rather said Mr Elwin’s disappearance was due to the aged care system “being stretched and broken”.

“The staff are good people and it is a great place where they do an amazing job of looking after people. But the aged care system is not good enough,” she said.

She wanted to see the government better fund the industry so another family did not go through what they had been through.

A large-scale search of volunteers and emergency services looked for Peter Elwin for two days. Picture: Supplied

A St Vincent’s Care Services spokesman said Mr Elwin, who was staying at the Heathcote facility for respite care, left on Friday and did not return.

“When his absence was noted on Friday early afternoon, we immediately alerted the authorities and his designated first point of contact,” he said.

“We are incredibly grateful for the efforts of the NSW Police, the State Emergency Services, and local volunteers who did an incredible job at finding Mr Elwin.

“Our own staff also joined the search. For example, our Heathcote facility manager, Mark Aros, and his son spent hours on their bikes looking for Mr Elwin on Saturday.

“We also received terrific support from staff who gave up their free time or volunteered after hours to try and find him.”

Engadine local Jono Mosley found Peter Elwin when he went for a walk in the Royal National Park to look for him on Sunday. Picture: Supplied

The spokesman said St Vincent’s Care Services Heathcote already had in place a range of measures designed to keep residents safe and maintain tabs on their whereabouts.

“However, it’s important to remember that – not withstanding a Covid or flu outbreak – aged care homes aren’t locked down,” he said.

“Many residents have the capacity, and are encouraged, to lead independent lives and we respect the daily decisions they make to do this.

“We work hard to balance this approach with our duty of care in regards to resident safety and security.”

Mrs Powell-Hughes said she and her family felt exhausted from the “rollercoaster” of emotions they experienced in the past few days.

“We went from a phone call asking if Peter was with us, to thinking ‘oh my God where is he’ to searching and working with various people and communicating with them,” she said.

“Then it became more official and there was just a machine of information, which was pretty full on.

“Of course we got more and more worried as time went on.”

Emergency services, volunteers and those in the community were relieved to find Mr Elwin. Picture: Supplied

Mrs Powell-Hughes said Peter’s siblings in New Zealand felt so helpless and she was trying to keep them updated.

“By the second night we were very concerned because we thought he couldn’t still be in the area where people had searched and we thought he had somehow ventured onto a bus,” she said.

“There were so many people involved in the search and a sense of hopelessness was creeping in.”

Mrs Powell-Hughes joked that Mr Elwin was “determined” to get lost in the bush, despite having never been a keen hiker.

Jono Mosley said he usually went for a run in Engadine but after seeing the Facebook post about Mr Elwin missing, he thought he would go for a walk on Sunday morning about 7.30am in Heathcote along a trail in the Royal National Park to look for him, and encouraged others to do the same.

He decided to walk rather than run so he could hear Mr Elwin but he admitted he did not think he would find him feeling a bit “silly” but nevertheless carried on.

“I was about a kilometre into the bush and was shouting every hundred metres then I heard a response,” he said.

“He said ‘hello’.

“He was lying in the bush, very calm but confused.”

Jono Mosley was also in shock when he found Mr Elwin. Picture: Supplied

Mr Mosley couldn’t get reception to call Triple 0 so he took a photograph of Mr Elwin, with permission, and posted it to Facebook with his location. He wanted to confirm it was him and asked for help.

Mr Mosley didn’t want to leave Mr Elwin and held his hand. Not long later a woman arrived with a sleeping blanket.

Police and other emergency services were notified and paramedics put Mr Elwin on a stretcher and took him to St George Hospital.

The gravity and miracle of what Mr Mosley did was still sinking in on Tuesday.

“Today is the first day I have been able to process what happened. There have been highs and lows,” he said.

“I was in shock when I found him. I can’t explain the emotion. It was a miracle. I was meant to be where I was and a lot of things led me to be there.”

The community were grateful to Jono Mosley for miraculously finding Peter. Picture: Supplied

Mr Mosley thanked those in the community who had reached out and expressed their gratitude, adding he was touched by the ‘Jono Rocks’ sign that was put up in a park.

Ms Powell-Hughes said she was in shock when she got the call Mr Elwin had been found alive.

“We were asleep after being up late worrying and when the phone rang I was shocked they had found him alive,” she said.

“It was such a sense of relief then it was important to get him to hospital.

“It was incredible.”

Mrs Powell-Hughes said Mr Elwin had slowly been more affected by his dementia but described him as hard worker, having been a builder and carpenter in the Sydney region, living most of his life in the eastern suburbs.

“Peter has always been a very determined person. He has an incredible resolve. He is as tough as nails,” she said.

“He is such a good human being. Everyone loves him. He loves a bet on the races, it brings him joy especially if he can win.”

Mrs Powell-Hughes told Mr Elwin that people had bought Mr Mosley beers on Sunday night at the pub.

He liked that and said he also would have bought Mr Mosley a beer had it been someone else who had been rescued.

The family have spoken to Mr Mosley and the woman who came to his aid. They plan to meet up in person on Saturday to express their thanks and share the experience.