Elderly woman sparks search

An elderly woman with dementia who wandered from a Blenheim rest home on Sunday afternoon had almost 20 people from Marlborough Search and Rescue as well as police staff out looking for her, say police.

The woman left the rest home late in the afternoon and a team of 17 people from Marlborough Land Search and Rescue as well as the Alzheimer's search group were called in just after 8pm to search the Springlands area.

Police said they were concerned because of the woman's age and mental condition, the fact she was not wearing an Alzheimer's radio tracking pendant and that below-zero temperatures were forecast overnight.

She was found just before 9pm in the backyard of a house in McLaughlan St after police were alerted by the resident.

The woman was taken to Wairau Hospital and treated and discharged, said a hospital spokeswoman.

Constable Michelle Stagg, of Blenheim, said people with dementia or from rest homes go missing once every couple of months.. "We treat it with some care because they could end up anywhere."

- The Marlborough Express