Dec. 01--Robert Robinson cannot express just how happy he is that an off-duty police officer found his mother hours after she was reported missing.
Alice Whitehead, 81, was in town from Beckley, West Virginia to visit Robinson, when she went missing around 3 p.m. on Tuesday. She suffers from Alzheimer's.
"We were all worried because it was getting cold and she didn't have her medications," Robinson said. "We looked for her until the sun went down."
After hours of searching for her, Robinson and his wife finally reported her to the El Paso Police Department.
Around 8 p.m., Officer Marcos Galindo was on his way home from work when he spotted Whitehead walking near Pebble Hills and Lee Trevino.
Police said he recognized her as the missing woman and stopped to check on her.
Whitehead was returned to her family.
"I was glad they found her before it got really late and cold outside," Robinson said. "When we got her, she was cold and shaking."
The location where Galindo found Whitehead was more than five miles from his home.
"She still thought she was in West Virginia," Robinson said. "She was looking for my nieces house, because she thought she was still in West Virginia. But we are in Texas and it is nothing like West Virginia."
Whitehead has gone back to her home in West Virginia with Robinson's sister.
Robinson said that his mother doesn't remember getting lost.
Robinson said that the fast action of the El Paso Police Department and Galindo.
"I'm just
glad they found her as fast as they did," Robinson said. "People should contact the police department when someone goes missing. That's what they do, they find people."
Aaron Bracamontes may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6156.
Copyright 2011 - El Paso Times, Texas
