DECATUR — After being missing for more than 24 hours, Margaret Herod, an 82-year old woman with dementia lost near her home on Carlton Drive, west of Decatur, was found alive Friday, only two hours before severe thunderstorms moved into the area.
Herod, who suffers from dementia, disappeared from her home in rural Decatur — 22820 Carlton Drive — around 10 a.m. Thursday. Before she was finally found, 13 law-enforcement and fire-department agencies had been mobilized to help in the search for the missing woman.
According to Sgt. Shannon Jenkins, public information officer for the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, Herod “was found alive and well with only minor injuries. She was coherent and asked only for a Mountain Dew.”
Herod was checked by paramedics at the scene and was transported to a nearby hospital for further evaluation.
Agencies aiding in the search included: Tri-County Search and Rescue, Benton County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Division, Benton County Search and Rescue, Benton County Emergency Management, Benton County Emergency Communications, Franklin County Emergency Management, Siloam Springs Police Department, Bentonville Police Department, Rogers Police Department, Arkansas Forestry Commission, Decatur Fire Department, Gravette Fire Department and a Missouri search and rescue K-9 unit from Kansas City, Mo.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office began searching for the woman after she walked away from her home near Decatur on Thursday, according to an earlier press release from Jenkins.
A Silver Alert was issued and Herod was described as a white female with gray hair and weighing less than 100 pounds, last seen wearing a light blue shirt, black pants, one white shoe and one black shoe.
