Deputies rescue missing Pismo Beach man

May 23, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

San Luis Obispo County deputies rescued a Pismo Beach man who was lost and dehydrated, the SLO County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.

On March 25, the Pismo Beach Police Department asked the county sheriff’s search and rescue team to help find a missing 64-year-old man with a cognitive disability and a hearing impairment. The man had walked away from his home two days earlier.

Deputies were able to determine an area where the man might be based on cell phone data before his phone died. Twenty search and rescue members searched the area without success.

On March 26, search and rescue members again searched the area with K9’s and drones to assist with the search.

The drones were able to locate the man near a creek in an area overgrown with trees and brush. He was alive, but was extremely dehydrated.

First responders transported the man to a hospital. He made a full recovery.

It is likely he would have died had he not been located.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our Search and Rescue team,” Sheriff Ian Parkinson said. “Their tireless dedication, skill, and refusal to give up brought this man home alive after three days in the wilderness. This is exactly what commitment to community looks like.”