Police hunt lost guest's wedding

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/dorset/8315974.stm

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A man who became lost in Dorset after flying to Britain for his son's wedding made it to the event after detectives spent a day tracking down the venue.

Joe Arseneault, 75, lost all details of the venue, near Blandford, by the time he arrived at Wareham railway station.

He had also forgotten to tell his son of his arrival time from Canada.

Dorset Police arranged accommodation and dinner for Mr Arseneault, before ringing registry offices and hotels and delivering him to the event.

He was effectively utterly stranded until the police helped him out Kathryn Arseneault

Mr Arseneault had flown in from Toronto to see his son, Paul, get married.

A taxi driver initially came to his aid when no-one came to pick him up from the station on 25 September.

Mr Arseneault, who did not have a mobile phone, had lost all information about the time and whereabouts of the event the next day.

A Dorset Police spokesman said: "By the following morning, officers had made contact with directory inquiries, various registry offices and venues and hotels in the area that regularly hold weddings and services, without success.

'Efforts and kindness'

"By 11am, Pc Simon Wilcox found the location of the wedding in Hilton, near Milton Abbas."

Pc Wilcox arranged to pick up Mr Arseneault and took him to meet other relatives.

Mr Arseneault's new daughter-in-law, Kathryn Arseneault, said: "Joe is 75 years old, and it was his first time out of Toronto for many years.

"He'd forgotten to tell us which train he was arriving on, and he had lost his information slip, so he was effectively utterly stranded until the police helped him out."

Pc Wilcox said: "I would like to thank the efforts and kindness of the taxi drivers at the train station who initially dealt with Mr Arseneault, ensuring that he was reassured and kept out of the cold."