Missing man found safe in Milwaukee County

APPLETON - Appleton police say a man who walked away from an Appleton health care facility Tuesday night has been found safe in Milwaukee County. Michael Schram, 59, was reported missing Tuesday shortly after 7 p.m.

Police say he was being treated for dementia at an Appleton nursing home. That facility is Appleton Health Care Center, located at 2915 North Meade Street.

Found along the freeway system in Milwaukee County, authorities believe Schram hitchhiked his way south.

"He was actually up here, based on some issues with his dementia,” said Sgt. Dave Lund with the Appleton Police Department. “He is from Illinois, and so our concern, last night with the weather, was he knows no one immediately in the area of where he would have been able to go to."

From the moment the report came in, Appleton police say finding Michael Schram was the priority. Lund says the resolution to this case is a fortunate one, considering recent Wisconsin cases of death due to exposure.

"We had to continue to check the area to make sure of that we couldn't just jump to the assumption that he had actually left the area," said Lund.

Shortly before 7 a.m. Wednesday, Lund says police received a report of a spotting of Schram near Richmond Street and U.S. 41. But questions still remain as to how he got out of the facility he was receiving treatment in, in the first place.

FOX 11’s Bill Miston spoke with Appleton Health Care Center Administrator Todd Greenway in person.

He confirmed Schram was receiving treatment at the rehabilitative and long-term care facility, but would not comment further and did not want to go on camera.

He would not say how Schram was able to get out of the facility, or if such an incident had happened there before.

Greenway did provide a statement – prepared before Schram was found – which said, "The gentleman was recently declared competent in a court of law and scheduled to return home today."

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says it is aware of the situation and is looking into it.

The Appleton Police Department is currently working with the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department to determine what happens to Schram now.