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Mamie
Lovette took a walk that puts people half her age to shame--7 miles from her
home on Daniel Place in Fanwood to Inman Avenue in Woodbridge.
The only problem was Mamie, who is 72 and has Alzheimer's disease, didn't
tell anyone.
Suddenly, in mid-afternoon on December 22nd, she was gone. Her frantic
family dialed 911 and thus began a 10-hour search and rescue mission involving
dozens of police officers, volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel from
Fanwood, Scotch Plains, Westfield and Clark.
"She
never does this," said Victoria Cook, Mamie's sister who lives with her and who
watched the search operation unfold from the command post at the Scotch Plains
Fire Department's south side firehouse.
In the same room were the search managers from Central Jersey Technical
Rescue, a team of Union County-based volunteers
who
specialize in just this kind of thing. They huddled around computers that
crunched the latest sightings and maps and consulted with police and fire
officials from four towns.
Outside, eight teams of volunteers were led on coordinated searches of
places where Mamie might have wandered to-- the woods and neighborhoods around
Union Catholic High School where there had been a sighting-- the grounds around
the YMCA and the JCC on Martine Avenue-- the area around L'Oreal on Terminal
Avenue in Clark where there had been another sighting.
Union County Police brought their search dog and the State Police helicopter
circled overheard, shining its bright light on the woods below. Residents of
Scotch Plains around Union Catholic peeked out their doors, wondering what
people with flashlights were doing in their backyards.
After several sightings that didn't pan out there came a report from
Woodbridge that a police officer spotted a woman walking on Inman Avenue who
fit Mamie's description-- maybe just another sighting, or maybe this was the
real thing.
Within 30 minutes, by 12:30am, a police car pulled up to the command post in
Scotch Plains and out popped Mamie, smiling and talkative but maybe just a
little tired.
She was in remarkably good shape and good spirits and had a nice chat with
some of the people who turned out to look for her.
After a medical check by EMT's from the Fanwood Rescue Squad, Vicky and the
family took her home.
The Fanwood Rescue Squad also assisted in the foot search around Union
Catholic High School during the early hours, and provided medical support to
the search teams at the command post.
Managing the search were volunteers from
Central Jersey Technical Rescue, NJ Search and Rescue and Union County
Police. Conducting the actual foot search were members of the above agencies
plus volunteers from the Fanwood Rescue Squad, Fanwood Fire Department, Scotch
Plains Fire Department and Westfield Fire Department. Police officers from
Fanwood, Scotch Plains, Westfield, Clark and Union County searched by vehicle
and the NJ State Police provided helicopter support.
All that time, Mamie was far from the action. But it turned out that a lot
of people cared about her and showed that in our community, one person's
welfare is worth the trouble.
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