The search for a missing 90-year-old man who wandered away from his son's house Friday continued in the mountains above Kane'ohe yesterday.

More than 40 firefighters, police and family members scoured the area above Hui Iwa Place looking for Federico Balderas, a former deer hunter and avid hiker who now suffers from dementia.

Balderas, who still walked every morning near his home on Lana'i, had been staying with son Rodrigo in Kane'ohe for a week before he disappeared Friday morning about 7:30.

"In the morning he kind of loses his memory. He gets up in the morning and packs his things and is ready to go. We try to catch him before he goes, sit him down and have breakfast and then he's OK," said Rodrigo Balderas, 70, Federico's only son. "He just left the house (Friday). When I came down- stairs we (he and his wife) both looked and he was gone."

Balderas is the third elderly person suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's disease to disappear in the past two weeks, prompting police to remind families caring for such elders to keep a close watch on their loved ones.

On Lana'i, the search continued yesterday for 77-year-old Robert "Bobby" Amaral, who was battling dementia and was last seen July 29.

On Tuesday police found the body of 86-year-old Kapahulu resident Elaine Uyeda near Diamond Head. Uyeda, an Alzheimer's patient, wandered away from her McCorriston Street home July 30.

According to a 2001 study conducted by the College of Nursing and Institute of Aging at the University of Florida, Alzheimer's patients are likely to wander when they are in unfamiliar situations and if their caregivers become distracted. People are at greater risk of wandering if they are cared for by a son or daughter, rather than a spouse, because they are more likely to be left alone, the study said.

Elderly people who display early signs of Alzheimer's or dementia should be diagnosed by a physician immediately, said officer Phil Camero of the Honolulu Police Department's missing persons detail, and steps should be taken to ensure that a loved one doesn't walk away.

Camero urged families to enroll loved ones in the Alzheimer's Association's Safe Return program.

The program offers identification products, such as bracelets and pendants; a national database that includes photos; 24-hour toll-free crisis line; and wandering behavior education and training for caregivers and families.

"For families who have loved ones showing signs of forgetfulness seek help immediately, get diagnosed," Camero said.

Yesterday more than 100 volunteers from a church near Balderas' son's house distributed flyers describing Federico around the neighborhood, Camero said.

Camero said the trails and wooded area behind Rodrigo Balderas' home were being searched yesterday after investigators found Federico Balderas' glasses about three quarters of a mile down a dirt trail. On Friday, Balderas' handkerchief was found in the same area.

"We're praying that we find him soon," Camero said. "We know he is healthy for his age, and guava season is in bloom so at least he would have something to sustain him."

Police and fire helicopters aided the search efforts yesterday.

Rodrigo Balderas said his father, who emigrated from the Philippines when he was 6, enjoyed fishing, hunting and hiking well into his 80s. He said the onset of dementia has slowed his father some, but has not kept him from gardening and exercising every morning.

When not visiting his son and other family members on O'ahu, Federico Balderas lives with one of his four daughters on Lana'i.

"It's frustrating, he was so happy being here then all of a sudden he disappeared," Rodrigo Balderas said.

Fire Capt. Emmit Kane said firefighters were focusing their search in the mountain region behind the home where Balderas was staying.

Since Friday, about 10 to 15 family members, including many of Balderas' grandchildren, have scoured the neighborhood and Kane'ohe looking for him, his son said. By car and by foot, family members have helped rescue personnel with the search.

Balderas is 5 feet tall and 110 pounds, with gray hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a blue Las Vegas cap, long black pants, denim jacket, slippers and glasses.

Anyone with information about Balderas is asked to call Missing Persons Detail Investigator Phil Camero at 529-3394, or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellular phone.