Missing woman, 93, found stuck on slope
A 93-year-old missing woman was found safe Tuesday, more than 30 hours after she failed to return from her walk.
Virginia Leong was found just before 1:30 p.m. in the 1900 block of Meadow Vale Drive near Thetis Lake in View Royal by a passerby, said Victoria police spokesman Const. Matt Rutherford.
The passerby heard Leong calling for help and found her stuck down a grassy incline. He called 911, and paramedics took Leong to hospital. She was expected to stay in hospital overnight for observation.
“We’re absolutely thrilled,” said granddaughter Kate Donovan. “We were starting to fear the worst.”
Leong was dehydrated, tired and missing a shoe, but not physically injured when she was found, more than 3.5 kilometres from the home on Treebank Road East where she was staying with relatives.
Donovan said as she sat next to her grandmother’s hospital bed, she held her hand and Leong said her name. Leong said she was tired, but she knew her family was there.
Leong, who is from Vancouver, was in Victoria for a wedding. Donovan said Leong is physically fit for her age and likes to go for three- or four-kilometre walks before sunrise.
Leong has Type 2 diabetes, Donovan said — a cause of concern for the family while she was missing. She does not have dementia but is forgetful at times, Donovan said.
“The fact that she stayed outside for so long is just incredible,” Donovan said.
“She is just an incredibly strong woman and we all knew that.”
On Tuesday, Metchosin searchand-rescue volunteers centred on Cuthbert Holmes Park behind Tillicum Mall because Leong grew up on a family farm in the area, said search manager Linda Hillard.
Her nephew Ken Lee said Leong’s father used to grow vegetables for the Canadian military.
Leong eventually moved to Vancouver, where she and her husband ran a grocery store.
The search for Leong included an RCMP helicopter, fire boat, bike team and ground search team.
The department thanked the first responders, search volunteers and members of the public who helped look for Leong.