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MC was an 85 year old female in excellent
physical health. Her Alzheimer's was first noticed 4 years ago after a
traffic accident. She continued to live alone in her house in a formally
rural area that experienced rapid suburban growth over the years. She
often wandered to the neighbor's house looking for an aunt or cousin who
had been in her house, but then had "disappeared." Her mirror
needed to be removed because "the lady in the mirror would not talk
or leave." She had some chairs that needed to be removed because in
the dim light she thought they were people. She had no close living
relatives and no arrangements were made to obtain a diagnosis of
Alzheimer's or any type of treatment. When social services were contacted
no referrals were made to the Alzheimer's Association or any other type of
assistance. In August 2001, she wandered almost two miles along a four
lane divided highway. On December 22, 2002 at 6pm a friend contacted her
to check up. Later that night the friend could not reach M. The following
morning the friend contacted the neighbors to check in on M since she was
still unable to contact M. The neighbor knocked on the door and got no
response. Therefore, he called the police and started his own search. He
was able to locate M. before any formal search was started. To see a map
of the find location, |
