Several public appeals to find the 79-year-old were issued and circulated online by local Oldham residents and beyond after police expressed concern for his whereabouts, given the fact he had Alzheimer’s and may have been missing without his medication.
Mr Hazeltine was later caught on CCTV walking along Manchester Street in Oldham in the direction of the town centre at around 10:26am on the same day he went missing.
GMP shared the CCTV images with the public in the hopes of finding him.
ADVERTISEMENT
CCTV images of David Hazeltine on Monday 3 July / Credit: GMP
But despite the numerous appeals being shared far and wide, and searches continuing for several days, a GMP spokesperson later confirmed that a body had been found.
“At around 11.15am on Friday 7 July 2023, officers were called to a concern for welfare of a male on a path near Westwood, Oldham,” a GMP spokesperson revealed in a statement, “Officers and emergency services attended.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Despite the best efforts of the emergency services, the male was sadly pronounced deceased at the scene.
“There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.”
After the body was confirmed to be that of Mr Hazeltine, the family of the “lovely” world-travelling ex veteran have paid tribute to him.
ADVERTISEMENT
The family’s tribute, as shared by GMP, reads: “We would like to thank family, friends and the wider public who helped via social media to spread the word when my Dad went missing.
“As an ex-Royal Marine veteran, Dad was a very proud and independent man despite his worsening Alzheimer’s. A man who had travelled the world in his career, he loved to spend his later years growing and sharing his fruit and veg from his allotment.
“He is described as a lovely man by all who met him and he will be sadly missed by his family.
Greater Manchester public urged to help get people ‘off the streets and on their feet’ before Christmas
Emily Sergeant
Locals are being urged to help get hundreds of people “off the streets and back on their feet” this festive season.
As the temperatures told colder by the day, and Christmas creeps closer and closer, Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity is bringing back ‘1000 Beds for Christmas’, and the massively-important initiative is aiming to provide 1,000 nights of accommodation to people at risk of homelessness before the big day arrives.
Forming part of the ongoing ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, this festive fundraising mission is designed to provide food, shelter, warmth, and dedicated vital wrap-around support for those who need it most.
The charity says it wants to build on the “incredible success of 2023”, which raised more than £55,000 and provided 1,800 nights of accommodation.
Stockport-based property finance specialists, Together – which has supported the campaign for the last two years – has, once again, generously pledged to match every public donation for the first £20,000 raised.
Unfamiliar with the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme? Since 2017, when rough sleeping peaked, the initiative has helped ensure a significantly-higher rate of reduction in the numbers of people facing a night on streets in Greater Manchester than seen nationally.
The landmark scheme has given people the chance to rebuild their lives, while also giving them access to key services and opportunities that allows them to stay off the streets for good.
Despite the scheme’s recent success, organisations across Greater Manchester are under “a huge amount of pressure” to meet the demand for their services this winter, and given the current economic outlook, household budgets will continue to be squeezed – leaving people on the sharp end of inequality and poverty.
Emily Sergeant -
12th July 2023 
