Coming together to help

The people of Rockingham County pull together in an extraordinary way when someone needs help.
In this case it’s the Dunlap family.
Dallas Gray “Red” Dunlap was reported missing from his Stoneville home at 1:30 a.m. Sunday. His wife, Ruth, last saw him about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, according to Maj. Roger Hair of the Stoneville Police Department.
Dunlap told his wife he wanted to stay up for awhile, but when she tried to check on him a couple of hours later he wasn’t home. The family began to look for Dunlap before calling authorities for help. He had wandered off before but was found soon after he went missing.
Not this time, unfortunately.
As of Tuesday afternoon, dozens of law enforcement and emergency personnel were scouring western Rockingham in search of Dunlap, who has early-stage Alzheimer’s and suffers from intermittent dementia. A Silver Alert was issued through the N.C. Center for Missing Persons early Sunday morning as authorities used dogs and called in a helicopter in an effort to find Dunlap.
We pray that he is safe, and we know that the sheriff’s office, local police and rescue personnel and numerous volunteers are working tirelessly in their search. “Even when (Fire Marshal Robert Cardwell) told them to go home and get some rest, many of them wanted to stay and see the search through,” Hair told us.
“We’ve been amazed at the response we’ve had from all over the county and beyond,” he said. “We’ve had volunteers come in from all the local fire and police departments. We’ve even had volunteers from Guilford and Stokes counties.”
When two Danbury boys went missing more than two years ago, numerous volunteers came to the small Stokes County town to offer their help. That’s just how we are, and maybe Dunlap’s family and friends will take at least some comfort in the fact that nothing – neither time nor resources nor commitment – is being spared to find him.