A 68-year-old Waukesha woman with early onset dementia and a broken ankle was found safe walking along Interstate 94 in Oconomowoc, many miles from the hospital she had left on foot the evening before. Betsy Abts had been reported missing after leaving Waukesha Memorial Hospital just before 6 p.m. Friday, prompting a statewide Silver Alert before she was located.
According to FOX6 News Milwaukee, the Waukesha Police Department said Abts left Waukesha Memorial Hospital on foot and was last seen walking near the facility before vanishing. Police described her as a white woman standing 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing about 150 pounds, with brown, straight, shoulder-length hair and blue eyes. She was reportedly wearing a black sweatshirt, jeans, and a walking boot on one foot when she disappeared, consistent with the broken ankle police said she was managing at the time.
Abts had reportedly been reported missing once before, just a few days earlier, according to the outlet. This time, police issued a Silver Alert for her, and FOX6 reported it received word of the search through a Wisconsin Crime Alert Network email. She was eventually located walking along I-94 in Oconomowoc, according to the same report — an approximately 18-mile driving route from the hospital in Waukesha where she had last been seen, per Rome2Rio route data. The route data does not establish how far Abts walked. Being found walking along the interstate with a broken ankle underscores the difficulty of her situation while managing both a mobility injury and a cognitive impairment.
How the Silver Alert System Works
Wisconsin’s Silver Alert criteria include a missing person being at least 60 years old and having Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or another permanent cognitive impairment, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice. The alert process includes canceling the alert when the missing person is found, and agencies are required to notify the state Department of Justice within one hour, per protocols outlined by the University of Wisconsin System…