Active search for missing 79-year-old Pickens County man

PICKENS COUNTY, Ga. - Authorities in Pickens County will resume the search Tuesday morning for a missing 79-year-old man.

Helicopters and K-9 teams focused Monday on an area around the Sharp Mountain Preserve subdivision where the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office said Ben Thebaut lives and was last seen around 3 p.m. Sunday.

Investigators said Thebaut went for a walk in the woods behind his Terrace Way home and did not return home.

"This is a thick, wooded area with wildlife and everything that comes with it.  So, there's a lot of concern," said Capt. Kris Stancil. 

Thebaut was last seen wearing a brown sweatshirt and a camouflage "boonie" style hat.  He is described as being 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds with grey, balding hair.

Authorities said Thebaut was showing dementia like symptoms, but doctors have not confirmed that diagnosis.

The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office is partnering in the search with  troopers from the Georgia State Patrol, officers with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Georgia Department of Corrections as well as deputies from Gilmer and Cherokee counties.

A group that specializes in searches for people with Alzheimer's and Autism will join the search party on Tuesday. 

The sheriff asks residents not go into the woods to search until public safety officials complete their scans and can organize a safe ground search.

Anyone who sees Thebaut is asked to call 911 immediately.