Elderly man found by stranger

The family of an elderly man who went missing for almost 24 hours has thanked the stranger who found him.

Giuseppe Bolzicco was spotted by a woman driving around Fremantle this morning.

She recognised his distinctive '1931' number plate and called police while she followed him in her car.

Officers arrived and took the 89-year-old to the Fremantle police station before he was reunited with his family at their Mt Hawthorn home.

The relieved grandfather says he got lost while driving between hardware stores and slept in his car last night.

The grandfather had been missing for around 20 hours when he was spotted.

He left his Mt Hawthorn home to go to a hardware store around 11am yesterday but never returned.

Worried family and friends spent the night searching for him but couldn't find him.