Five Days Later, Family Of Missing Man Desperate To Find Him

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A security camera captured the last images family members have of Roy Lee Cook, 70, walking out of his niece's home in southeast Dallas shortly after midnight Wednesday night, barefoot and in pajama bottoms.

A Silver Alert remains in effect, five days later, and his family says they are desperate to find the missing man.
Relatives and strangers have searched the area near his niece's home, along Buckner and Loop 12, but found no sign of him.

"It hurts my heart," said Veronica Fields, Cook's niece.

She says her uncle moved in with her six months ago, after developing dementia.

Occasionally she says, he'd talk of returning home to Cleburne, an hour's drive away.

"He'd get his little bag, his Cowboy bag, and he'll say 'I'm going home'. And I'd say, 'Where's home? Home's right here!' " she said.

Fields installed an alarm to warn the family, if her uncle tried to leave.

Wednesday night, though, she was exhausted after a long day of work and didn't hear it go off. Her security camera footage shows him walk out the front door to the street and turn right.

"He left his glasses, his watch, his necklace," said Fields.

In his bedroom, his shoes sit tucked away.

The cane that helps him get around still rests on his headboard.

Just three months after the death of her son, Fields says she prays her uncle is found alive.

Her hope, however, is dimming.

"It hurts, but I have to mentally prepare myself for anything at this point," she said.