Elderly couple found Sunday traveled 145 miles from home, police say

The pair, both of whom have dementia, got lost trying to drive to Cleveland

Staff report

BAZETTA

An elderly township couple reported missing Saturday night was found as they returned home at 11:49 a.m. Sunday, having traveled 145 miles away in the wrong direction.

Bazetta Police Chief Mike Hovis said the couple said they had intended to travel to Cleveland but made it to a gas station far from there and turned around. They both have dementia.

Hovis said it appears they remained in their car from Saturday afternoon until nearly 24 hours later when they traveled south into Cortland and were spotted by a relative.

The relative called 911, saying she thought the car in front of her on state Route 46 in Cortland was Wade and Helen Brainard. The couple stopped near Hillside Cemetery near Mosquito Lake, and a Cortland officer assisted them.

A Cortland police report says the couple said they “had gotten lost after visiting family and were driving all night.”

They were in good spirits, good condition and didn’t require any medical attention.

“Thank God they did,” Hovis said of the couple finding their way back unharmed. “I’m shocked they made it all the way back home.”

Bazetta police issued a statewide missing adults alert late Saturday for Wade, 89, and Helen, 82. That information was posted on message boards on interstates across Ohio, but it didn’t produce any phone calls, Hovis said. The couple apparently traveled on back roads, he said.

Hovis said the family had indicated that they would be making sure the couple didn’t drive anymore.