Body of elderly man who walked away from Bluffton care facility found near pond, cops say
The body of an elderly man who was reported missing from a Bluffton memory care facility was found Tuesday morning, according to police officials and the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office.
Jack Tribble, 79, of Bluffton, was reported missing on Aug. 23 after walking out of The Palmettos of Bluffton, an elderly care home located around U.S. 170. Tribble’s body was found near the facility, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Maj. Angela Viens said.
Tribble was found around 11:25 a.m. in a heavily wooded and swampy area with several ponds less than half a mile from the care facility, said Sgt. Ryan Fazekas with the Bluffton Police Department. There was no indication of trauma, he said.
The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office responded around 11:42 a.m., according to Coroner David Ott. Tribble’s body was found near the edge of a pond, Ott said.
Police began search efforts for Tribble on Aug. 24 — including search parties, helicopters, ATVs and K-9 units — but discontinued their efforts after they “saturated” the immediate area, Bluffton Police Sgt. Bonifacio Perez previously told the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Tribble had dementia with Lewy bodies, a type of progressive dementia leading to declines in thinking, reasoning and independent function that can result in confusion, hallucinations and slowness of movement, his wife, Margaret Tribble, said in a video shared on a Facebook page dedicated to the search effort.
Tribble was last seen on surveillance video walking away from the facility. He had been off of his medication since his disappearance, was likely to be “feeling isolated, alone and very frightened,” Margaret Tribble said.
The Bluffton Police Department, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, the Spartanburg County Search and Rescue, the S.C. K-9 Search and Rescue and the Richland County CID Forensic K-9 Unit helped in the search, Fazekas said.
A time or cause of death were not immediately available. An autopsy has been scheduled for Friday, Ott said.
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This story was originally published September 6, 2022 at 4:17 PM.
