The search crew gathers in the empty lot near Cushman Park in Fairhaven, with the Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council trailer in the background, on 3/17/21 to search for missing person Kenny Parks, who was found unharmed sitting in a car the next morning. Photo by Jean Perry.
By Beth David, Editor
Fairhaven Police Chief Michael J. Myers, who activated the Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (SEMLEC) Search and Rescue Unit Wednesday, 3/17/21, reports that the man who was reported missing on Wednesday, Kenny Parks, 72, was found safe.
Just before noon on Thursday, Mr. Parks, a New Bedford resident, was located seated in a vehicle on Chestnut Street in Fairhaven, near the Rogers School area, .6 miles from where he was last seen. A woman spotted him in the vehicle and then flagged down two officers who were passing by on bicycles.
Chief Myers said that a woman who was visiting her mother noticed steam on the window of a car, realized the missing man was inside, and flagged down police.
Mr. Parks was evaluated by EMS on scene and later taken to an area hospital for evaluation.
Mr. Parks was reported missing from Cushman Park in Fairhaven on 3/17; he was last seen about 1:25 p.m. He is non-verbal, with autism, and was walking with a group of people in the park when he got separated from the group.
Many Fairhaven and area residents joined the search into the night.
A K9 officer and his canine partner search Union Wharf on Wednesday, 3/17/21, looking for missing person Kenny Parks, who was found unharmed sitting in a car the next morning. Photo by Jean Perry.
Around lunch time, a customer of Mac’s Soda Bar ordered 10 lunches of corned beef and cabbage for the searchers, according to owner Lisa Malcolm. The restaurant delivered the food to the command center in the empty parking lot across from Cushman Park on Main Street.
In a press release, the Fairhaven Police Department thanked all of the first responders from around the region who assisted in searching Wednesday and Thursday, as well as all the members of the public who volunteered to search.
The assisting agencies included: Fairhaven Police Department, Acushnet Police Department, Mattapoisett Police Department, Fairhaven Fire Department and call firefighters, Fairhaven Harbormaster, New Bedford Police Department Marine Unit, Bristol County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit, SEMLEC Search & Rescue, SEMLEC Mobile Command Center, SEMLEC Dive Team, SEMLEC Bicycle Unit, Mass State Police Special Emergency Response Team, Mass State Police Air Wing, Mass Environmental Police and the Department of Conservation & Recreation.
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