WESSON – A missing doctor whose disappearance was publicized inthe wake of a manhunt for a fugitive in Copiah County has beenfound safe just north of Jonesboro, Ark., officials said.

Wesson Police, the Copiah County Sheriff’s Office, and theMississippi Highway Patrol put out an alert Thursday that82-year-old Dr. Burton Friedman had left for a haircut appointmentaround 11 a.m. on Wednesday and had not returned.

“He was located in Arkansas, and he’s fine, but he was a littledisoriented,” said Wesson Police Officer Phillip Sterling. “Theredidn’t appear to be any foul play.”

How the doctor ended up in Arkansas is a mystery to officials,but they believe he must have simply gotten lost and confused.

“He was disoriented, I assume, and didn’t know where he was,”said Copiah County Chief Deputy Tony Hemphill. “That’s when heended up in Arkansas.”

Hemphill said from what he knew, Friedman had stopped at achurch in Rector, Ark., where someone recognized him and called thefamily.

“From the calls I got yesterday, a lady who had seen the reporton television saw him at a church, sitting outside,” he said. “Thefamily was already in north Mississippi looking for him, so theywere there quickly.”

Family and friends said Friedman is not senile nor in badhealth, but they cannot explain his jaunt to Arkansas. He was takento a hospital for observation, Hemphill said.

“They called an ambulance and had him checked out at thehospital, just in case,” said Hemphill.

Hemphill said Copiah County and MHP assisted in theinvestigation by filing the report on the National CrimeInformation Center database.

“This started as a Wesson case, since they took the initialreport, and we and the Highway Patrol were there to assist,” hesaid.