Staff were hot on the heels of 77-year-old Ray Speechley when he climbed two fences and walked free from a South Coast nursing home on Thursday.
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In poor physical and mental health, with so small a head start, the enduring success of his getaway is a cruel mystery for his family to grapple with.
“[The staff response] was pretty fast, so we thought maybe it would just be a day or so until he was found,” said Mr Speechley’s granddaughter Hayley, of Cordeaux Heights.
“The nurses saw him climbing the second fence and they’ve left in their personal cars to go and search for him. He was spotted shortly after that on the main road just outside of Dalmeny then - never again.
“We've had hope for a week and we've heard absolutely nothing - not a single lead. You have to assume the worst.”
Mr Speechley, a former boilermaker, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's about a year ago. He became a resident of IRT’s Dalmeny Care Centre on July 4 when his health declined.
His disappearance has devastated his wife of 58 years, Jan, who he has been with since childhood.
“She’s extremely distressed,” said Miss Speechley, of her grandmother.
“She sits glued to the phone. Any time it rings she’s running towards it.
“She feels like it’s her fault; that she locked him up in a nursing home.”
Mr Speechley was born in Warrawong and he and Jan raised their children in Figtree.
His family thinks he could have returned to the area, confusing it with his current home, and is calling on Illawarra residents to keep watch for him.
“We’ve been around to all their old houses, all his old fishing spots, all teh places he used to bowl at," Miss Speechley said.
IRT CEO Care, Craig Hamer said Mr Speechley had climbed an aluminium pool fence surrounding the facility’s dementia garden, then a six-foot high Colorbond community boundary fence.
“He was very agitated and determined to leave — repelling an employee who tried to stop him from climbing the garden fence and using a lifestyle resident's ladder to scale the boundary fence,” Mr Hamer said. “Because an IRT employee was there at the time, we were able to commence a foot and car search immediately.”
“IRT is taking a range of actions in response to the disappearance of Mr Speechley, including additional security measures at IRT Dalmeny Care Centre.
“We have been working closely with the family, Police and rescue volunteers to support the search and call for help from the public to find Mr Speechley.
“We continue to hope and pray for his safe return."
