In a fortunate turn of events, the Westland Police found an elderly woman who had been reported missing from her home, standing in a creek several hours after her disappearance. According to CBS News Detroit, the woman was discovered knee-deep in water, shoeless and at risk of hypothermia, in a wooded area on the 38000 block of Florence Ave. in Westland last Thursday.
The event unfolded when the elderly woman's husband reported her missing after she was last seen at approximately 4:30 p.m. in their backyard by a neighbor, the sun had set by the time he decided to call the police, which was shortly before 9:00 p.m., police were able to promptly respond to the report, starting a crucial search operation as night descended. Earlier in the evening, officers had received a call about a "suspicious female" in the woods, matching the missing woman's description according to the Westland Police Community Partnership.
The officers' ability to connect the earlier call with the missing woman's report was pivotal in directing the search efforts. Every available unit was mobilized to scour the wooded expanse. Sgt. Derek Gomez, the initial officer to respond, eventually located the woman after he heard a voice and immediately shouted out, moving toward the source.
Gomez subsequently found the woman nearly knee-deep in a creek, experiencing what "likely was the onset of hypothermia", as per CBS News Detroit. The Westland Fire Department then carried out her immediate evacuation from the scene and transported her to a local hospital for medical assessment and care. In recognition of the swift and decisive action taken by Sgt. Gomez alongside his fellow officers that critical night, the Westland Police Department extended its commendation for helping to avert what could have been a dire outcome for the woman and her family.
