Mumbai police trace 75-year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer's in an hour, reunited with family

Updated: 16 December, 2020 08:59 IST | mid-day online correspondent | Mumbai

They tracked her down to Sakinaka junction, 4 km from the airport

File photo of Mumbai Police. Pic/AFP
File photo of Mumbai Police. Pic/AFP

Sahar police took less than an hour to trace an elderly woman, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, who went missing outside the city’s international airport, with the help of its internal WhatsApp group.

They tracked her down to Sakinaka junction, 4 km from the airport, states a report in The Times of India.

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Vasundhara Sadawarte, 75, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, had wandered away while her husband Ashok was loading their luggage into a taxi to travel to their Pune home on Sunday evening.

The incident occurred around 4.15pm, minutes after the couple that had flown in from Australia walked out of the airport. Ashok called the police control room and alerted them that his wife had gone missing. Meanwhile, his son-in-law called Sahar police station and shared his mother-in-law’s photo.

“Sub-inspector Ramchandra Yamgar who was the duty officer at that time circulated the senior citizen’s photo to all our staffs mobile, beat marshalls, patrolling team and them to trace her,” said Sahar police senior inspector Shashikant Mane.

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The team and constables Bhimrao Ingale and Nilesh Chawan found her with the help of their internal WhatsApp group.

She was reunited with her husband and nephew Kshitish Vaidya by 5.15pm, after which they left for Pune.

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First Published: 16 December, 2020 08:01 IST

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