HAMILTON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL)--A Hamilton County woman is questioning what happened the day her husband went missing from an assisted living facility.
Even though Isaac Johnson was found, his wife Dorothy is now trying to make sure this doesn't happen again.
"My husband is my husband," said Dorothy Johnson. "He has taken care of us over the years when he was able to. He means a lot to me. That's my loved one."
For Dorothy Johnson, it's extremely difficult to see her husband's struggle with dementia, but it was even more terrifying when she learned her husband went missing from an assisted living facility. He was later found in a swampy area.
In the early morning hours of October 2, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, 72-year-old Isaac Johnson went missing from his room at the Nancy Dengler House.
Deputies say Johnson wandered out of the assisted living facility, but his wife Dorothy is suspicious and says she isn't so sure he left on his own.
"He said they took me out there and there was no reason for me to be in the swamp," said Johnson.
According to the sheriff's incident report, when a staff member started her shift at 6:25 that morning, she noticed Johnson was not in his room and called 911.
After talking with staff, deputies believe Johnson had been gone for a couple of hours.
They followed a trail not too far behind the house, their search lasting only a few minutes.
Hamilton County Sheriff Harrell Reid says the water was about thigh high deep.
"He was a little disoriented when we found him and cold from exposure and everything so we called a med unit and transferred him to a hospital in Lake City," said Sheriff Reid.
Reid says they found no criminal wrong-doing.
"Apparently he walked away unnoticed and it was not noticed until another shift came on," said Reid.
We paid a visit to the Nancy Dengler House to get a comment regarding what happened, but we were turned away at the door by someone who appeared to be a caregiver.
The woman referred us down the road to their main property Hidden Oaks ALF, Inc.
As we were leaving, a manager drove up in a truck to talk to us. We asked him what they were doing to prevent this from happening and he said he couldn't comment and they were not open for tours.
Hidden Oaks attorney Ted Mack says his client would comment if they could but because of confidentiality reasons they can't.
He went on to say if there was indeed an incident he can assure that it was reported to the Agency on Health Care Administration. That agency's spokesperson told us they too can't confirm or deny if a report was filed. According to Florida statute, adverse incident reports are confidential.
Mack told us over the phone that assisted living facilities do all they can to protect the residents. He also implied Hidden Oaks has a good reputation.
Meanwhile Johnson says if her husband did wander, that was the first time.
Back in March, Johnson says a doctor told her husband he had vascular dementia. It's a range of symptoms that includes a loss of memory.
James Smith, the clinical director of the Alzheimer's Project, says people with dementia can be at risk of wandering away.
"One of the things that happens a lot with dementia patients is that they lose, in some of their vision fields, they lose some acuity," said Smith.
Dorothy Johnson still has a hard time believing her husband wandered out alone in the dark that morning, especially since she says dementia patients sometimes have a fear of the dark.
Now she's just thankful he's alive and in a different facility.
Our investigation into the Nancy Dengler house turned up no complaints since it was first licensed in 2013.
We also checked up on the sister property, the Susan Rewis House. That facility was fined in 2007 for failing to provide financial records and on three other occasions the facility was fined for criminal background screening violations.
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