An 84-year-old Malden woman with Alzheimer’s and depression who went missing from the city’s east side Friday evening has been found safe, police announced early Saturday. Mary McNally, described as 5 feet 5 inches tall and about 120 pounds with strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes, had last been seen wearing a black-and-white striped shirt with black pants.
According to the Malden Police Department, McNally was reported missing Friday evening and assigned incident number 26003460 as officers worked to locate her. The department thanked everyone who shared the bulletin and assisted in the search, and had asked community members to remain alert and contact police with any information about her whereabouts. Police had listed two contact numbers for tips, 781-322-1212 and 781-397-7181, and McNally’s case carried NIC number M2690012644.
The scare unfolded in a city of roughly 66,000 residents packed into just 5 square miles, giving Malden one of the higher population densities in the region at more than 13,000 people per square mile, per U.S. Census Bureau estimates. That density can complicate a physical search for someone on foot, though it also means more potential witnesses circulating nearby who might spot a missing person and call it in.
Why Dementia-Related Disappearances Demand Fast Action
Cases like McNally’s carry real urgency. The Alzheimer’s Association has found that 60% of people living with dementia will wander at least once, and medical research cited by the Cleveland Clinic shows that up to half of missing dementia patients not found within 24 hours suffer severe injury or death. Nationally, more than 7 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s disease, with symptoms that often combine memory failure, depression, disorientation, and unannounced wandering, according to the Alzheimer’s Association’s 2026 data…