On the morning of January 6, 2017, Bernard Gore made his way to the Bondi Junction Westfield mall in Sydney, Australia.
He was visiting his daughter, Melina, and had informed his family that he intended to walk to the mall before meeting his wife of 50 years, Angela Gore, for lunch approximately an hour later.
However, he never arrived for lunch.
Mrs. Gore grew worried and began searching the mall for her husband. That evening, she filed a missing person’s report with the local authorities.
It was not until three weeks later that he was located.
Sadly, Mr. Gore was found deceased inside a fire escape stairwell at the shopping center on January 27, 2017. His body was discovered 21 days after he had been reported missing.
It is believed that he accidentally entered the stairwell, described as a ‘labyrinth’ of self-locking doors and perplexing exits, through a fire door and was unable to find his way out.
A sales assistant at Westfield’s Chanel store noticed Bernard, who had dementia, appearing disoriented on the morning he vanished.
“He was completely lost and confused,” she told Australia’s Daily Telegraph. “He came in asking for help, he was frail and confused and was pacing up and down outside the store and eventually came inside.
“He said he couldn’t find the carpark or people he was supposed to be meeting. I asked if he needed help and he shook his head and wandered off.
“We were so worried my colleague called security and one of the guards told us they could check CCTV footage to locate him.
“The thought that he had been in the stairwell for three weeks makes me feel so sad. Why has it taken so long to find the body?”
An inquiry into the delay in finding Mr. Gore revealed several deficiencies, including ‘inadequate search procedures and ineffective communication’.
The stairwell where his body was discovered was not initially searched, and the examination of CCTV footage was found to be inadequate.
Derek Lee, the Deputy State Coroner of New South Wales, has proposed a series of recommendations to enhance the process of searching for missing individuals in New South Wales.
“The distress that Bernard must have felt after 12.50pm on 6 January 2017, and the uncertainty and anguish that his family must have felt in the hours, days, and weeks that followed is unimaginable,” said Mr. Lee in his findings, per ABC news.
The recommendations suggest improvements in how New South Wales police handle missing person reports, emphasize the significance of obtaining CCTV footage, provide training and education on searching urban areas, and stress the importance of checking fire stairs and corridors, among other measures.
Mr. Lee added: “It is hoped that the shortcomings that have been identified as part of the coronial process, the lessons that have been learned by individuals and organisations involved in the attempt to locate Bernard, and the recommendations that have been made following this inquest will mitigate the possibility of another family having to endure such a traumatic event.”