A panicked daughter called the Charles County Sheriff police on March 18 in desperate need to find her missing mother, who has dementia.
Apparently, Roberta, 81, who lives with her daughter, takes daily walks down the driveway of her home in Charles County, Md., and usually turns back when she reaches the end.
But, this time, she decided to keep going.
Five officers set out to track Roberta down.
After 40 minutes, they found her in the woods and, in order to not startle her, pretended they were out for a walk, too.
They made small talk as they strolled along—asking her what the key is to a long, healthy life. Roberta said, “Eat good and stay active.”
The Charles County Sheriff’s Office shared the photo above on their Facebook page. They wrote:
Officers responded to a 911 call from a woman who reported her 81-year-old mother missing. It seems her mother left her house to take her daily walk up and down the driveway, but when she didn’t return, things got a bit scary because the woman’s mother has dementia. Officers P. DeBoe, C. Caywood, B. Morrison, Sgt. C. Black, and Cpl. C. Clevenger with his K9 partner responded to the scene and began a search of the heavily wooded area. After 40 minutes, the woman was found. At first, she seemed confused at the sudden appearance of police officers on the tree-lined trail, and she asked if the officers were out taking a walk too. They quietly replied ‘Yes,“ after all, it was a beautiful day. And then she seemed relieved and told them she had lost her way. ”No problem,” said Officer Morrison who then gently took her hand and, along with the other officers walked her back to her house.
The officers claim to “encounter different situations every day,” adding that, “Some good, some not so good.
“In this case, a frightening situation for the family ended happily. For that, they were thankful. For us, it’s the rewarding part of policing,” the post reads.
They also implemented the hashtag: “#RESPECTTHOSEWITHDEMENTIA” at the end of the post.
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