Elderly Woman Reported Missing West of Blackduck Found After Search

An elderly person reported missing Monday was found alive today near Hagali Township.

On Monday, September 30, 2019 at approximately 9:00 PM, the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center received a report of an elderly family member, who suffers from a dementia related illness, missing in the 22000 block of Everts Road NE (County Road 23) in Hagali Township, which is located approximately 19 miles northeast of Bemidji.

The family reported the elderly female had been alone for approximately 10 minutes when they discovered that she had wandered off. Family and neighbors had looked for approximately one hour before calling the Beltrami County 911 Center and reported the 81-year-old female missing.

The initial response by Deputies included a K9 team but after approximately two hours of searching Deputies, family and friends were unable to locate the missing person, and a larger search team was deployed to include a large contingent of Beltrami County Deputies, Minnesota State Patrol Troopers, MN DNR Conservation Officers and Deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office equipped with a forward-looking infrared equipped drone. Air support was not available due to the inclement weather conditions.

Personnel, family, friends and neighbors continued to search throughout the night and early morning hours, but after day break at approximately 7:40 AM, a neighbor reported locating the elderly female approximately 1-1/2 miles away from where she went missing from in a wooded ravine that she had fallen into and couldn’t get out. Deputies reported no obvious signs of injury, but she was alert and talkative and treated for hypothermia.

She was transported from the woods to an awaiting Blackduck Ambulance and then transported to Sanford Bemidji Medical Center for treatment.

No other information is available for release.