PUNTA GORDA, Fla.- A Charlotte County Sheriff's road patrol deputy located a missing Port Charlotte man yesterday, using the electronic Project Lifesaver tracking equipment in his patrol cruiser.

CCSO received a call Monday at 4:37 p.m. from a caretaker at an adult family care home in the 3000 block of Jody Street in Port Charlotte. The caller said the 60-year-old male resident was last seen at 2:30 p.m. Deputies learned that the missing man luckily was wearing a Project Lifesaver bracelet as he was prone to wander away. The wrist-watch sized radio transmitter allows deputies to track a signal from a CCSO cruiser or helicopter.

The helicopter was dispatched; however, the road patrol deputy began receiving an electronic signal that tracked the missing man to the Books-a-Million parking lot at the corner of U.S. 41 and Cochran Boulevard at 5:33 p.m. The man was returned safely to the home on Jody Street, about two miles from where he was located.

For more information about obtaining a Project Lifesaver bracelet please contact CCSO Crime Prevention Specialist Dale Phillips at dale.phillips@ccso.org.