Missing man found – thanks to his faithful sheepdog
Massive search after retired farmer with dementia becomes lost on hillside
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A retired farmer with dementia who became lost on an Argyll hillside while out herding sheep was found thanks to the barking and howling of his faithful sheepdog.
Iain MacLean’s collie, Nell, stayed with him throughout his ordeal, and it was the noise from the normally quiet dog that alerted searchers to where he was walking deep in woods.
Mr MacLean, 61, of Collaig, Ardfern, was at Tullich, near Kilmelford, where sons Iain and Ron keep 400 sheep, when he became disorientated and got lost at around 11.30am.
Iain and Ron and daughter Amanda raised the alarm, sparking a massive search of the hill on Thursday. A helicopter from Lossiemouth scoured the area using a heat-seeking camera while teams of 20 from Oban and Arrochar Mountain Rescue Teams searched the area. Police dogs from Lochaber and Dumbarton were brought in with fire crews from Oban and Lochgilphead.
Volunteer fire crews from Ardfern and Kilmelford also joined the search, with a large number of local volunteers.
Officer Danny McBeth of Oban police station said: “There must have been about 100 people on the hill at one point.
“A local woman found him in nearby woods at around 3am on Friday. It was her local knowledge of the forest that helped to find him, as the helicopter’s infrared was unable to pick him up underneath the trees.”
The Cuilfail Hotel at Kilmelford stayed open and served soup and sandwiches to searchers, and Shian MacLean (no relation), of Tullich Farmhouse, allowed her home to be used as a search base.
Alice McPhie, Steve Morely and Alan McLellan of the Kilmelford volunteer fire crew were allocated an area to search, but Miss McPhie said it was the howling and barking of Nell which took them out of their allocated area and into woods at Lower Lagna-Lochlan.
She said: “The dog saved his life. It was quite cold up on the high ground — much colder than lower down.”
Mr MacLean was very cold when found, and he was checked for two hours at Oban Lorn and the Isles Hospital before he left.
He said yesterday: “My hands and feet were very, very cold.”
His wife, Eilidh, 57, said: “The police were excellent and very sensitive with the matter of Iain’s illness. We would just like to thank everybody who was there and everybody who helped in any way. They walked for miles up and down that hill in the dark. We are very grateful.”
Iain MacLean jun, 36, said: “We knew Nell wouldn’t leave him because she is very loyal to him, but when the mountain-rescue teams asked us if she would be howling, we didn’t think so. She doesn’t bark as a rule. Normally she is a very quiet dog.”
Ross Lilley, deputy leader of Oban Mountain Rescue Team, said: “It was a really good outcome.
“There was a large group of people to put out on the hill, a fair few of his family, other farmers and locals. Because it was unclear where he was exactly we called in the rescue helicopter and Arrochar Mountain Rescue Team.
“We got lots of good help from the local community. Through deploying all the resources we managed to get him fairly quickly. He could have been out all night if we hadn’t got to him.
“It was one of the local teams that heard the dog barking. Having his dog with him helped a great deal in finding him so soon.”
Yvonne O’Shea, owner of the Cuilfail Hotel, said: “It was a massive search turnout. Most of the people round about wanted to help. It is a very close community”
Mr MacLean worked for many years as a drover at the old market at Oban and is well known throughout the Highlands and islands. Latterly he farmed on Lunga Estate at Ardfern. He recently had to retire due to the early onset of dementia.
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