Missing Woman in The Village Found

Staff and Wire Reports

THE VILLAGE, Oklahoma -- Police in the Oklahoma City suburb of The Village have found a missing 81-year-old woman.

Police said they located Maxine Lavender near Britton Road and North May Avenue inside a local beauty shop. She was unharmed.

Maxine's family is so happy things turned out the way they did, and they're pleased that there's a system which helps out when an elderly person disappears.

"We're so relieved because of the good condition my mother-in-law was found in," son-in-law Tom Merrill said.

Just moments after being found, Lavendar visited with search teams and returned home.

"She looks better than she normally looks," Merrill said. "She's kinda in an excited mood. I guess it's a big, great adventure for her, but we're so grateful that she's found and safe."

Lavendar has severe dementia, and she walked away from her home in the middle of the night and was discovered about seven hours later wandering around a shopping center, a few blocks away.

"She must have gotten turned around because she never left the house before, she seemed to indicate she was trying to find her way back and didn't know how to get back home," Merrill said.

Police say the safe reunion proves a system called the Silver Alert works.

"This is the first time we've done it, it's fairly new," said Deputy Chief Steve Jagosh of the Village Fire Department.

It's much like the Amber Alert except, it's for seniors in danger. The Silver Alert tells law enforcement all over the state and the media about the missing person.

"You just have to find these people, the sooner you can do that the better," Jagosh said.

The Silver Alert has only been activated a few times; a tool that's so helpful.

"Our community is getting older so we may see an increase in the number of those types of incidents happening, so I think it's important that we have a system that's in place that can help us find those people and put them back into safety," said Capt. Chris West of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

Lavendar's family couldn't agree more and they're thankful that a system's set up to watch over the state's aging loved ones.

"I think it's a great thing that people can coordinate all the efforts together to find people," Merrill said.

A new law adds another component to the Silver Alert. Starting in November, the information will also go out to the national database for missing persons.

The Silver Alert goes into effect when a person over 60 is missing and the senior has dementia or other health issues.