Jan 15, 2013 2 min read

Man’s best friend and technology teamed up to help South Strabane Township police find a Chartiers Township man who was suffering from a diabetic emergency Monday night.

Charles Lee Anderson, 57, was found unresponsive in a wooded area behind Northgate Plaza after his dog, “Sammy,” led police Officer Chad Brogley to his location.

Amanda Steadman reported her father missing earlier in the evening. Anderson had left a friend’s home on Lakeview Drive and did not return to his home on Henderson Avenue. She told police that he may be suffering a diabetic emergency. He was apparently not acting like himself when he left his friend’s home.

Police contacted Verizon and were able to use global positioning to obtain coordinates of where Anderson had last used his cellphone. Plugging in the coordinates to Google Maps, Sgt. Drew Hilk was able to determine Anderson had been the area of Trinity East Elementary School. Police then started to search the areas around the school.

About midnight, Brogley found a pickup truck crashed behind the Comcast offices at Northgate. The headlights were on and the engine was running. The truck had crashed into two parked Comcast vehicles. Brogley saw the dog that led the officer to Anderson, who was found unresponsive about 150 feet from his truck. His clothes were wet. Brogley wrapped him in a blanket until emergency medical personnel arrived.

Anderson, who was also suffering from hypothermia, was taken to Washington Hospital for treatment. Steadman took custody of Sammy.