A MAN living with with Alzheimer's who drove from Beaudesert in south-east Queensland to Kempsey has been found safe after running out of fuel.
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Chris Taylor drove more than 550 kilometres towing a trailer full of sand.
Wife Penny said her 72-year-old husband had not driven for 18 months due to his condition.
She noticed that he was missing from their home at Mundoolan north of Beaudesert when she woke in the night.
"I went to check on him in the lounge room because that's where he's been sleeping since we had to move rooms," she said.
"I looked everywhere and called his name but when I went outside I saw my car was missing."
Mr Taylor's family thanked the power of Facebook for his safe return after someone saw his photo on social media and reported seeing him in Kempsey.
Mr Taylor was the subject of a police alert early Friday morning after his wife and daughter raised the alarm.
Ms Taylor said her husband had become increasingly confused and disorientated since a storm on the last day of the school term damaged the roof of their house and they were forced to spend a week in alternative accommodation.
She said her husband had previously worked at Zupps in Beaudesert.
"We found out later that he had called Zupps from Nambucca asking for a fuel card," she said.
"We found out that call came from an 02 number, so a niece and nephew headed in that direction to look for him. Linkt footage showed him going through the Loganlea toll at 2.51 that morning so we knew he was on the highway.
"But we found him thanks to a lady who spotted him sitting on a bridge just outside Kempsey and recognised him from the Facebook post.
"He had no money, no wallet and he was wearing boxer shorts.
"I had only just filled the tank with petrol so he managed to drive more than 550 kilometres towing a trailer full of sand before he ran out of fuel."
Mr Taylor spent two nights in Kempsey Hospital and is now back home.
His wife said he was unaware of his adventure but he often forgot that he no longer had to go to work.
"When they found him he didn't know his name or where he came from," she said.
"He would have woken up in the night thinking he had to get to work and I thought he would have got to Beaudesert Zupps and come home when he found it closed. I didn't expect he would get that far."
Ms Taylor, who is a teacher at Jimboomba State School, said she was grateful to the school community who jumped into action to help search for her husband.
"But the Facebook post was shared thousands of times and I don't know how we would have survived this without that," she said.
"I don't normally share those types of posts but I will do now."
Ms Taylor said she would also have to install a car alarm to alert her if her husband decided to go for another drive and said she was prepared for her husband's condition to worsen.
