NEWS RELEASE

RIVERSIDE POLICE DEPARTMENT

31 Riverside Road, Riverside, IL 60546

06 August 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Chief Thomas Weitzel tweitzel@riverside.il.us 708.447.2127

Follow RPD on Twitter @pdriverside

Riverside Police Recover Missing Elderly Female Just Outside Paw Paw, Michigan
Seventy-year old female with early onset Alzheimer's reported missing found in Michigan

On Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 9:30 p.m., a 78-year-old male resident of Riverside reported his 70-year-old
wife missing. The husband reported the following facts. Earlier in the evening, both he and his wife had traveled
to an auto dealership in Hodgkins, Illinois to pick up a car that had some work done on it. The wife, a 70-year-old
female resident of Riverside, was to follow her husband home. When the husband arrived home at his residence
in Riverside, his wife was not behind him in her car. He then waited a short period of time, and once she did not
return, he searched for her on his own but was unable to find her or her vehicle. It was at that time that he
reported her missing to Riverside Police.
Riverside Police immediately launched an investigation, as the female had a medical condition that required
immediate police response. Investigators had the husband show them the path that the couple had taken home.
Riverside detectives drove the entire path and were unable to locate the female or her vehicle. Police then
entered the missing female into the national computer system for missing people, along with a description of her
vehicle thereby issuing a nationwide alert along with a safety flier with a photo of the missing individual. Riverside
officers continued to search known locations that she may be at throughout the entire midnight shift, with no
positive results.
On Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 7:40 a.m., Riverside Police were notified by the Michigan State Police that they
had found the missing elderly female and her vehicle in Michigan off of I-94 at Exit 56. This location is just outside
of Paw Paw, Michigan. Michigan State Police relayed that they found the vehicle on the side of the road, as the
driver had run out of gas. Riverside Police then immediately notified her husband and assisted with arrangements
in returning her to her home in Riverside.
Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel stated, "I am extremely thankful that one of our residents was recovered in
the State of Michigan with apparently no injuries, but was confused as to where she was. The speedy response
by police personnel and the relentless nonstop work done by patrol and investigations led to her recovery
Thursday morning. Immediate police response to missing children and adults is a key component to successful
recovery."