PORT ANGELES — A missing Port Angeles woman was found safe in a stranger’s unlocked vehicle Saturday with the help of a Project Lifesaver tracking device, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.
The 69-year-old woman, who was not identified by authorities, was reported as missing from the St. Andrew’s Place assisted living community at 7:36 p.m. Saturday.
The woman, who has dementia, had been outfitted with a Project Lifesaver transmitter 10 days prior because of a history of wandering, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The transmitter emits a specific radio frequency every second, allowing searchers to track the device with a receiver.
Port Angeles Police Sgt. Josh Powless retrieved the Project Lifesaver receivers from the Sheriff’s Office and went to St. Andrew’s Place to begin the search at 7:52 p.m. Saturday, Sheriff’s Office Administrative Coordinator Lorraine Shore said.
Powless, Officer Sky Sexton and Sheriff’s Deputies Melvin Kempf and Benjamin Tomco used the equipment to locate the woman about 800 feet west of St. Andrew’s Place at 8:11 p.m., Shore said.
She was sitting alone inside a stranger’s unlocked vehicle and was frustrated because she was unable to start it, authorities said.
The woman was taken back to St. Andrew’s by staff.
Transmitter
The Project Lifesaver transmitter is worn around the wrist or ankle. If a client goes missing, the caregiver notifies the local Project Lifesaver agency, in this case the Sheriff’s Office, and a trained emergency team responds.
Most enrollees who wander are found within a few miles from home, and search times have been cut from hours and days to minutes, officials said.
Recovery times for Project Lifesaver clients average 30 minutes, which is 95 percent faster than average standard operations, they said.
For more information on the Project Lifesaver program, visit the Sheriff’s Office’s website at www.clallam.net/sheriff.
