It can be terrifying when an elderly relative vanishes. One New York man who recently went missing was fortunate to be in a car with an emergency device equipped, and to know how to reach help — but the help then chose not to help him at all, leaving his family mystified about the response.

An 89-year-old man in upstate New York ended up driving away from home and becoming lost, local channel WHAM reports. He did not have a cell phone, but the car he was driving was equipped with OnStar. He pushed the OnStar button, seeking help, and was rebuffed.

“They told him there was nothing they could do because he didn’t have a subscription,” the man’s son-in-law told WHAM. OnStar refused to let the man use the service either to call home or to call for emergency assistance.

Eventually, sheriff’s deputies found the elderly gentleman, unharmed, and were able to return him to his family. But the family are still upset that the GM-owned service couldn’t even be bothered to call 911.

“They could definitely make a 911 call. There is no excuse – it’s unacceptable,” said the son-in-law.

When WHAM reached out to OnStar, the company apologized for experience but said that if you’re not an active subscriber, their computers cannot locate your car. In that event, they said, they call the authorities. However, they were unsure whether this emergency call was ever passed along to police or not.

Family says OnStar ignores 89-year-old’s emergency call [WHAM-13]

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