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By Joe DePriest
jdepriest@charlotteobserver.com
A 76-year-old Cleveland County man who disappeared after leaving home Wednesday night was found safe near his vehicle at the bottom of a steep embankment, authorities said Thursday.
Sgt. Shane Ledbetter with the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office said Arthur McKenzie of Golden Valley Road in the northern part of the county left home around 6 p.m. heading to the Foothills Market, a few miles away on N.C. 10 in Casar.
McKenzie, who was driving 2001 Chevrolet Prizm, ran off the road in a sharp curve less than a mile from home, Ledbetter said.
According to Ledbetter, the wreck wasn't visible from the road.
Around 11 a.m. Thursday, a man checking his farm property found McKenzie in a small creek where he had apparently spent the night.
“He was OK and seemed to be alert,” Ledbetter said. “He was talking.”
McKenzie was transported to Cleveland Regional Medical Center in Shelby for observation.
Ledbetter said McKenzie's caretaker reported that he appeared to be disoriented when he left home.
