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.
The alerts also tap into the state's highway infrastructure, broadcasting details like a missing person's description across Department of Transportation dynamic message boards, digital billboards, and even state lottery display terminals, according to the state Department of Justice. That network of roadside notifications is designed specifically for situations like this one, where a vulnerable adult may be moving along a major thoroughfare such as I-94. When missing adults do not meet the Silver Alert threshold — because they are under 60 or have no diagnosed cognitive impairment — Wisconsin agencies instead rely on Missing Endangered Person bulletins distributed through the Wisconsin Crime Alert Network, a distinction Hoodline detailed in its coverage of a missing Milwaukee man case last month.
Why Wandering Poses Such High Risk
Wandering is a well-documented hazard among people living with dementia. Data cited by the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation shows that roughly 60 percent of individuals with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia will wander away from home or a care setting at least once. A separate analysis by a University of Florida nurse researcher, examining national missing person data, found that fewer than 4 percent of memory-impaired adults who wander are able to find their way home without help — underscoring why rapid law enforcement response matters so much in these cases.
Unmonitored exits by cognitively impaired patients can pose safety concerns. The available reporting does not establish whether missing dementia patients who remain unlocated after 24 hours face significantly higher mortality risk. It remains unclear how long Abts was walking along the interstate before she was spotted, or whether hospital staff initiated internal elopement protocols before contacting Waukesha police — questions the available reporting does not answer.
This is not the first time Waukesha police have turned to the Silver Alert system for a resident with cognitive impairment. Last October, officers issued an alert for 70-year-old Michael Taylor, who has Alzheimer's disease and went missing after a walk; he was found safe, as Hoodline reported in coverage of that search. Waukesha Memorial Hospital, located at 725 American Avenue, is a 272-bed facility.
Waukesha police have asked anyone with information to contact them at 262-524-3831.
