A four-legged Smoky found an elderly man lost in the woods Saturday evening in Troy.

At 4:30 pm, state police received a report that an elderly man had walked into the woods behind a home on East Hill Rd and was unable to be located by family. Temperatures were freezing with blowing wind, and several swampy areas posed further safety concerns.

Uniformed troopers assigned to the Derby Barracks responded to the scene along with State Police K-9 units, State Police unmanned aerial system pilots, and a member of the State Police Search and Rescue Team, as well as Troy volunteer firefighters and personnel from Newport Ambulance Service.

A search team consisting of troopers and firefighters was assembled and quickly deployed into the woods. VSP K9 Carbon began tracking the subject’s scent, and shortly thereafter he was located in a wooded area and brought safely out of the woods by first responders and assisting members of the public. He was evaluated by Newport EMS personnel and transported to North Country Hospital as a precaution.

There was a sizeable presence of emergency personnel on East Hill Rd during this incident, and the roadway was reduced to one lane for several hours as search efforts were managed.