Community effort helps find missing woman, 94

"It was a bit of a community effort really."

Sergeant Bruce Irvine

Police are crediting the community for helping officers find a 94-year-old woman who went missing for several hours from a Taranaki rest home on Thursday.

Sergeant Bruce Irvine said about 20 police, including Highway Traffic officers, CIB staff and members of the search and rescue team mobilised to find the woman, who was last seen at the Jean Sandel Rest Home on New Plymouth’s Barrett Rd at 9.20am.

Irvine said once police were contacted in the afternoon, efforts to locate the woman, who suffers from dementia, went into overdrive.

‘‘You could say it was a huge search,’’ Irvine said.

Irvine said the three-hour search was contained within the New Plymouth city area, so all available staff combed the streets looking for the missing woman.

He said help also poured in from the public once an update about the situation was posted on social media.

‘‘We started getting information from members of the public after we put it on Facebook,’’ he said. This included sightings of the woman, who was using a walking frame.

The woman was eventually found about 7.30pm on Tisch Ave, near Kawaroa Park, where she was checked by ambulance staff. The distance between this area and Barrett Rd is about eight kilometres.

‘‘It was a bit of a community effort really,’’ Irvine said of the search.

The missing woman’s family were also extremely grateful.

A family spokesman said they were impressed by the ‘‘rapid response’’ of the police and the kindness and support officers showed during what had been a stressful time.

‘‘It was just outstanding,’’ he said.

He said the power social media had was also on show, with complete strangers taking the time to help out by providing information.

‘‘We live in a very caring community.’’