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Dementia becomes growing problem for local families
A Lincoln woman who suffers from dementia couldn't find her way home and ended up in Hastings late Tuesday night. She has returned home. But a few similar incidents happened just days ago.
Three cases have occurred in the last five days. A man with dementia was lost over the weekend. And two cases this week involved individuals from Lincoln who were driving and ended up here in Hastings. "Over the weekend we had one where the subject had been gone for about six hours and this person had some level of dementia. He had supposedly gone to the post office to check on his mail at about noon and nobody had seen him since," said Sgt. Steven Murphy. The subject did make his way home. But days later the Hastings Police Department assisted the Lincoln Police Department in a March 11th missing person's case. "A 74 year old man from Lincoln was here in Hastings. They wanted to attempt to make contact with him. He evidently has dementia and they felt that he was lost," said Murphy. Officers were able to make contact with the man. The lost man's family had a GPS tracking device installed on his vehicle, which made the find easier. "Any of these can get very tragic if you're not able to locate them in a fairly quick time," The latest scare involved 75 year old Patsy Isaacson. Her husband reported her missing on Tuesday, March 12th at 6:30am. Lincoln police say Patsy drove to the Walgreens at 70th and O Street in Lincoln. Video surveillance showed her getting into her vehicle and looking confused. Patsy left a message for her husband saying she couldn't find her way home. The Lincoln Police Department says the woman ended up in Hastings. They don't know the exact location, but when she got here she gave her husband a call. Her husband came here to pick her up. When they returned to Lincoln that's when they called and notified police she had been found. The unusual back to back occurrences bring more awareness to the deteriorating dementia disease. "The problem occurs with the short term, so an issue like driving, something interrupts that process and we are not able to get back on track so we miss our turn and then everything looks different nothing is in sequence the way it should be and we end up miles and miles away from home," said Executive Director of Country House Residences Nicole Campbell. The onset of dementia is hitting individuals earlier. Research shows it's starting as early as 65 and even younger. If you and your family need more information and support you can visit www.alz.org. |
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