Hyland found near Hove Auto Body

RIVER FALLS – The River Falls community banded together July 5-6 to search for and find a missing 79-year-old resident who had not returned from his morning walk, but unfortunately, police found him deceased the day after he went missing.

John Hyland, River Falls, taught English at UW-River Falls before working in the UWRF News Bureau, at which time he also wrote grants. After leaving UWRF, he taught classes and wrote training documents in the human resources department at Treasure Island Casino in Red Wing, Minn., according to his obituary.

He retired in 2006, which allowed him the time to visit many national and state parks, garden, hike, and run. He was an avid reader and published author, writing many articles and two children’s books: “Will Will” and “Ginger and Alice.” He was also an avid Civil War buff. He is survived by his wife, Joan, and two children.

According to the police report, his wife notified police at 12:37 p.m. July 5 that Hyland had not returned from his daily 30-minute walk; he had been gone for 2.5 hours. She described his regular route as taking a walking path near their home on Rangeview Lane, Division Street and Hoffman Park, including the wooded trails. She said that Hyland, who was in the early stages of dementia, had gotten lost a few times and was found outside of his usual route. He did not have a cell phone with him.

Police searched the parking lot, softball fields, disc golf course, and storm shelter at Hoffman Park, as well as Greenwood Cemetery. Officers also searched the wooded Glen Park trails from Washington Street to Foster Street/Bartosh Lane, all of the businesses on the west side of Main Street with no confirmed sightings, and the residential area from North Second Street and North Seventh Street between East Division Street and Spring Street, as well as the residential neighborhood east and west of Westside Elementary.

Police received a phone call about a possible sighting at Kwik Trip (1238 N. Main St.), but no one on the security footage matched Hyland’s description. Temperatures that day registered between 92 and 95 degrees.

After searching the residential and business areas, two officers walked the ditch area to the west of the southbound lane of Highway 65, but did not find anything in the embankment area. They located a possible footprint of John’s walking north on the dirt shoulder of the southbound lane. A private K-9 handler searched the ditches on either side of Highway 65 between the river overpass and rock bluffs, but found no one.

According to his family, Hyland did not like taking paths or sidewalks and often cut across fields and woods. He also had had a valve heart surgery in 2018, which he had not been expected to survive. Before the surgery, he had been a dedicated runner.

While searching along the highway, police spoke with a cyclist who told police he called 911 earlier in the day because he saw an individual matching John’s description walking northbound on the shoulder of the southbound lane.

Police officers posted Hyland’s photo to the RFPD Facebook page, where it was shared hundreds of times. They entered Hyland’s name into the Wisconsin Crime Alert System as a missing/endangered person with a Silver Alert. Though there were a few reported sightings of Hyland, and groups of community members conducted their own searches, Hyland was not found until the next day. River Falls Fire coordinated grid searches, while a Wisconsin State Patrol airplane searched until dark. Officers conducted thermal searches by vehicle and foot from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

At 8:53 a.m. July 6, a WSP trooper and volunteer K-9 searched found Hyland in the east ditch off Highway 65 near Hove Auto Body. According to the report, the medical examiner suspected heart failure. There was no trauma to his person.

Agencies and groups that assisted RFPD in the search included Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, UW-River Falls police, St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Mounted Posse and K-9, Wisconsin State Patrol, a private K-9 volunteer group, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.