Missing Halls Head woman suffering dementia found walking past WA Police headquarters

Tuesday, 28 August 2018 06:58

By Monique Passchier

Members of the WA Police media unit could not believe their eyes after finding a missing Halls Head woman walking past their office in Perth.

The media team issued a press release and Facebook post on Monday afternoon after 80-year-old Mary Cummins, who has dementia, went missing from her nursing home on Hungerford Avenue earlier in the day.

About 20 minutes later a woman matching the description was spotted by a member of the media unit walking briskly past Police Headquarters.

"At first they didn’t believe it could be the missing woman, until one of the officers decided to check just in case," police media spokesman Anthony Robertson said.

"By the time he caught up with her she had made it halfway past the WACA ground, heading back towards the city on Hay Street."

Once she was identified as the missing woman, she was taken back to police headquarters for a cup of tea and a lamington while a family member was contacted to pick her up.

"The value of social media was played out first hand as we were able to identify and locate the woman from our own Facebook post," Mr Robertson said.

"Here at the WA police force we are delighted to have had such a happy ending to this story, and we encourage the public to keep sharing our social media posts to make sure we keep looking after vulnerable members of our community."

The WA Police Force has coordinated 33 land searches so far this year looking for people suffering from dementia.

They encourage families to talk about dementia and seek advice from their GP and groups like Alzheimer's Australia and Dementia Australia.