Missing Chelmsford Senior With Dementia Found With Tracking System

The family of an 80-year-old woman with dementia were rewarded for planning ahead when their participation in a free Chelmsford program allowed a missing family member to be quickly found, officials say.

An antenna and tracking device used by Chelmsford Police as part of the SafetyNet program.
Photo Credit: *Chelmsford Police Department*

Morgan Gonzales

01/19/2023 1:05 p.m.

Police received a report that the senior woman had been missing from the Technology Drive area for 45 minutes on Thursday, Jan. 12 around 9:30 a.m., the Chelmsford Police Department said.

Chelmsford police, along with the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council Regional Response Team and the Massachusetts State Police Airwing, began to search fro the woman.

Once Chelmsford police learned that the woman and her family took part in their SafetyNet program, two officers deployed the tracking devices used by the program and were able to quickly locate the woman, who was in the back of a car in a condo complex on Technology Drive.

Police using SafetyNet tracking systems were able to locate the woman before the more traditional search teams were able to respond to the scene. She has now been safely reunited with her family.

The SafetyNet program is designed to help police more quickly find missing individuals with cognitive impairments, including those with autism, dementia and Alzheimer's.

Chelmsford police began participating in the program in the summer of 2022, and now has nine officers trained to use it.

The program is free, and works by providing those who participate with a bracelet to wear on their wrist or ankle. The bracelet is outfitted with a radio transmitter that emits a continuous signal, allowing police to quickly locate participants who go missing.

Police respond to the bracelet's signal first in a tracking vehicle that can bring them as close as a quarter of a mile to the radio signal. Then, police use a handheld tracking device to pinpoint the missing individual's location.

The technology used in the SafetyNet program is more effective than GPS, especially in difficult conditions like wooded areas, buildings, basements, and shallow water.

Those who wish to participate in the free program can contact Officer Matthew Fernald at mfernald@chelmsfordma.gov or (978) 256-2521 x301, or Officer Shawn Brady at sbrady@chelmsfordma.gov or (978) 256-2521 x275.

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