MURFREESBORO – A two-day search came to a sad end here Saturday.

A day after walking away from a Murfreesboro family care home, Rudolph Trotman, 74, was found dead in a ravine across the street from the facility.

“We received a telephone call Friday morning at approximately 7:38 a.m. alerting us that Mr. Trotman had left the Carver Manor Family Care Home,” Hertford County Sheriff Juan Vaughan said. “He was believed to have left the facility sometime between midnight and 1 a.m.”

Vaughan immediately began a search for Trotman, who is believed to be a native of Gates County, calling in the North Carolina Department of Corrections, the North Carolina Department of Community Corrections and the Hertford County Emergency Medical Services to help.

The rescue mission began at approximately 8 a.m. on Friday morning and continued all day until being suspended at 7 p.m.

The search began again in earnest on Saturday morning when Vaughan received help from the Murfreesboro Police Department, Hertford County’s volunteer fire and rescue departments, and the North Carolina Highway Patrol helicopter.

Trotman’s body was found at 1:05 p.m. by one of the rescue teams. He was in a ravine across the street from the family care home.

Vaughan said that he did not know the cause of death, but there were no signs of foul play. An autopsy was being performed on Monday.

“I want to thank everyone who came out and helped,” Vaughan said. “The Department of Corrections, Department of Community Corrections, Murfreesboro Police Department, highway patrol and the volunteers from fire and rescue were all vital.”