Police in Parma came to the rescue after a 36-year-old man was missing for more than four hours outside in the freezing cold late Monday night into early Tuesday morning.
Officers say Michael Bognar was last seen at 9:30 p.m. on Monday walking home from a friend's house on Norris Avenue. He apparently had turned down an offer of a ride and reports indicate he was intoxicated.
Bognar's wife notified police that her husband was missing at around 1:45 a.m. Repeated calls to his cell phone went right to voice mail. She told officers that her husband often walks through the nearby Metro Parks.
Officers scattered around several areas and engaged in a ground search. Approximately 20 minutes later, Bognar was heard yelling for help in a wooded area near Center Park. Eight different Parma officers took turns carrying him out from the woods to a waiting ambulance that would take him to MetroHealth Medical Center.
Bognar was found with hypothermia, frostbite, and had broken his leg in two places. His body temperature was just 83 degrees Fahrenheit.
MetroHealth staff informed police that due to the subfreezing temperatures, Bognar would have died within a few hours had he not been found.
WATCH | Parma Police released this dashcam of the rescue of Michael Bognar. (CAUTION--there is explicit language near the end.)
