HOUGHTON — Howard Weldon Maki, age 80, was found deceased in Laird Township on Sunday, June 20, after being reported missing for several days as a result of dementia. Dementia is a term used to describe a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking and social abilities severely enough to interfere with the person’s daily life, mayoclinic.org states. It is not a specific disease, but several diseases can cause dementia.

Though dementia generally involves memory loss, memory loss has different causes. Having memory loss alone does not mean a person has dementia, although it is often one of the early signs of the condition.

At approximately 1:15 p.m. on Sunday, a deputy from the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office and a member of the Superior Search and Rescue Team were driving the Sheriff Department’s ATV along an old snowmobile trail in Laird Township, when they located Maki’s body, approximately 1 3/4 miles southwest of Trail No. 109.

Two days previous, on June 18, the sheriff’s office, Maki’s vehicle was located about 1/8 of a mile south of the Alston Cemetery, parked, with a flat tire.

On Sunday, an extensive search was conducted of the area. Maki was pronounced dead at the scene and by it appeared that he had been at the location for several days. Foul play has been ruled out for now.