Earl Cleve Shirk was found safe.

A 64-year-old St. Teresa man, who was the focus of a dramatic search-and-rescue operation Tuesday after he had been missing for more than 18 hours, told RCMP he went for a walk to think and just kept going.

Earl Cleve Shirk went for a walk late Monday night and did not return home. Shirk is diabetic and his family was worried for his medical health.

Shirk had walked about 20 km to Montague — overnight — and was on his way back, when a neighbour picked him up and drove him home.

Thirty search-and-rescue personnel, some with dogs, had been dispatched on the search Tuesday afternoon.

At about 6 p.m., news came that Shirk had been located and was safe at home with his family.

"I went over and spoke with Mr. Shirk and he was medically fine," said Cpl. Scott Stevenson, RCMP search-and-rescue coordinator.

"He just decided that he wanted to go for a walk last night and just neglected to tell anybody where he was going and how long he was going to be gone for."

"He just basically told us that he had some things on his mind that he wanted to think through, and he just went for a little walk and he just kept on going," said Stevenson.

His family was relieved at his return, saying they are grateful for the efforts of search teams and police.

Search and rescue personnel said they could not have hoped for a better outcome. They remind the public to tell someone where they are going before taking any kind of journey.