Authorities found a woman with dementia dead in an Indiana pond on Wednesday, August 7. The woman had last been seen at a local fair with her mother the day before. The Lake County Sherriff's Department reported that surveillance images show the woman "exiting a fairgrounds gate at about 1:15pm."
Woman With Dementia Found Dead
Screenshot from Lake County Sheriff's Department Facebook
Although a Silver Alert went out to the community on Tuesday, August 6, in an attempt to find the woman, she was not found until it was too late. The deceased woman was identified as Vickey Kirkwood. The 55-year-old female was described by the Crown Point Police Department as a "Black woman who goes by Vicky. She has black hair, weighs 140 pounds, and is 5 feet, 5 inches tall."
Although the public attempted to help locate Vickey, police ultimately found her too late. USA TODAY mentions, "She was found dead in a residential pond in west Crown Point." Her body was found by local law enforcement and dive teams. An autopsy is underway; however, the cause and manner of death have not yet been identified.
Wandering With Dementia
While it is disheartening and tragic that this woman with dementia was found dead, it provides a learning opportunity. Although her cause of death is still unknown, Theora Care shares research that shows that "dementia wandering is more lethal than we thought."
According to statistics, "60% of persons with dementia (PWD) or Alzheimer's will wander during the course of the disease." They continue by saying, "Wandering can take two forms: walking in patterns which is typically not harmful, and wandering that leads to a person going missing."
The statistics get more scary. First, "74% of persons with Alzheimer's and dementia wandered from home." Then, of that group, "30% of missing incidents perished: by exposure, drawing, injuries or fatalities from car accidents."
These events are even scarier because they often have no warning signs, and many "missing incidents happen during previously normal, non-wandering activities." Then, to make matters even more complicated, studies showed that "most persons with Alzheimer's or dementia didn't wander far, but will conceal themselves for protection, making them more difficult to locate."
Hopefully, these statistics can help bring awareness to this tragic situation and increase the number of good Samaritans who can step in in a situation that may have otherwise been unknown to them.
