Simmons

ELKINS — An elderly Elkins man who had been declared missing was rescued after being submerged in water “up to his neck,” officials said.

Elkins Police Chief Travis Bennett released a statement on Thursday afternoon regarding the rescue of Harold Wayne Simmons, 80, who the West Virginia State Police had issued a Silver Alert for on Wednesday.

According to the statement, at around noon on Wednesday, Cpl. Summerfield with the Elkins Police Department received a missing person report for Simmons from a health care worker, who reported that Simmons was “missing from his home on Gorman Avenue.”

Later that evening, around 10:30 p.m., Sr. Patrolman Coffman and Patrolman Davis with the Elkins City Police responded to “a heavily wooded area near Fern Hill Lane” to assist Sr. Trooper Petrella of the West Virginia State Police with a trespassing call. When the three officers split up to search the area, Coffman “heard a male subject call out,” according to the statement.

“Coffman proceeded to the area that he heard the voice and discovered Mr. Simmons partially submerged in a large creek, injured with water up to his neck,” the statement reads. “Mr. Simmons was located at the bottom of an extremely steep embankment that was approximately 20 feet tall and extremely slick from recent rainfall.”

Coffman, according to the statement, “immediately traversed the embankment with the use of a tree” and, upon entering the water, pulled Simmons to safety. Randolph County EMS and the Elkins Fire Department were then called for assistance as the other officers on the scene arrived to assist in providing care for Simmons.

The Elkins Fire Department arrived on scene and performed a rope rescue operation to get Simmons back up the embankment, the statement explains. Simons was transported to Davis Medical Center and then on to Ruby Memorial Hospital for treatment.

“After reading the statements of all the officers on scene and reviewing the body-worn camera footage, there is no doubt in my mind that the actions of all the first responders present, and more, especially those of Sr. Patrolman Coffman, saved the life of Mr. Simmons,” Bennett said in the released statement. “I am deeply thankful for a good outcome to this situation, and extremely grateful to the other public safety agencies that the Elkins Police Department has the pleasure to work with.”