KISSIMMEE, Fla. — On Monday, November 28, Osceola County Sheriff’s Office gave new updates on the search of a missing 73-year-old Eustis man with dementia, Herman McClenton.


What You Need To Know

  • McClenton went missing on Thanksgiving day

  • Deputies are still searching

  • The family will stay in town until he is found

McClenton went missing on Thanksgiving day, November 24, during a family vacation at a Kissimmee resort. Deputies said he was last seen walking around the Emerald Island Resort where his family was staying at wearing a red had with religious text, a dark shirt, blue jeans and black shoes. 

His family said he is a father of 13 and a pastor. “He’s on a mission to get back to us and we’re on a mission to get him back,” Clara McClenton his daughter said.

Clara said only her youngest nephew, a child, saw him go out for a walk so, they don’t know exactly when he went. She said he would often go on walks back home to locations he recognizes. Because he’s in an area that he doesn’t recognize, he could be confused.

Clara said he may not even know he is lost.

“If you speak to him, you won’t know unless you speak to him for a while,” she said. “He’ll probably say to you know ‘oh no, I’m just heading back to my family’." She said. Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez said there are around 100 deputies on the search for McClenton whether it be in the sky, on the ground or on the water. He said they utilized drones, air rescue, boat rescue team, and bloodhounds to find him. 

“We’re on the retention ponds and we got some specialized sonar for areas that are hard to reach,” he said. “We’re hopeful. We’re going to continue to search that were hard to get to last time.”

Sheriff Lopez said they’re focusing their search around 200 acres near the neighborhood he was last seen, a swampy area extends off resort property onto Lake Toho property.

“We’re hoping he’s still in this area,” he said. “We’re asking people to please if you have any type of video to let us know. Send it to us so we can get some time frames together and better pinpoint his location.” He also said McClenton’s health condition that it makes the search even more urgent.

Clara said her father also has high blood pressure, diabetes, and epilepsy. He has gone at least four days without the medication to treat those conditions. “If he doesn’t have that, I don’t want to think about what could possibly happen,” she said.

His family said they will use the lessons he taught them, always keep the faith and remain strong.

“We know that’s the way it should end,” Mark Man another relative said. “If it is, we need some type of comfort. The man who raised will tell us to trust God. We’re going to back on faith.” Clara said the family will stay in Osceola County until they find her father.

“Kissimmee is great but we’re ready to take it back to Lake County and we’re ready to do that with our father,” she said.

Sheriff Lopez says they don’t have any evidence of him leaving the property and no hospital has reported McClenton as a patient. If you know anything or believe you have seen McClenton, you are advised to call the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office at 407-348-2222 or 911 in reference to 221726351.