KINGMAN, Kansas -- An 89-year-old Kingman man, Wallace Gene Fairchild, was found dead late Wednesday afternoon in Harper County after a Silver Alert was issued for him Tuesday.
When Bob Fairchild went to his father Wallace Fairchild’s house Tuesday night, Bob found no trace of his dad or Wally’s 2005 red Ford Ranger- that’s when Bob knew something was not right.
"Hopefully we would find him today, and we did, but the outcome wasn't what the family was wishing for,” said Bob.
A statewide Silver Alert was called off Wednesday afternoon after the family was informed their loved one was found in Harper County at the Danville Cemetery.
"His truck was in the road, I'm assuming out of gas or shut off, he was a few feet from the truck with the keys, deceased, but he did have a real bad aneurism,” said Bob.
With no signs of foul play, Bob’s best guess of how he passed is the aneurism.
On Wednesday, Bob tried to imagine exactly how his father wandered into Harper County.
"In my mind, yesterday, he was coming here for dinner, because he was filled up with gas, got his Red Man (chewing tobacco) and it was snowing, the farther south you got it was snowing harder and he missed his corner,” said Bob.
Wally suffered from dementia and had vision problems in one eye, which is why Bob thinks the snow lead to a wrong turn, leading his father off his usual path through town.
Wally was very well known throughout Kingman.
Family members say about 50 percent of the town helped out in the search for their loved one.
