A 63-year-old woman with dementia who was in a vehicle allegedly stolen while parked at a gas station was found safe nearly 10 hours after an unknown suspect jumped into the driver’s seat and took off with her still in the back, Winnipeg Police said Saturday.
Police had issued a Silver Alert for the woman early Saturday morning, which Const. Jay Murray said allowed police to release the fact that she had dementia—something he said could be important knowledge for anyone who found her.
Late Saturday morning, not long after police said an emergency alert was disseminated, a caller contacted 911 saying they believed they had seen the stolen 2012 Jeep Patriot in the city’s Charleswood neighbourhood.
It turned out not to be the correct Jeep, but officers kept searching. About half an hour later, police say a patrol unit found the right vehicle abandoned in the Glendale neighbourhood with the woman alone and physically unharmed inside.
Police are still searching for a suspect.
“At this point it appears to be a completely random incident and a crime of opportunity,” Murray told reporters during a news conference police held prior to locating the woman.
“Car theft, unfortunately, is relatively common here in Winnipeg, but vehicles being stolen with someone inside, that’s unusual.”
Murray said the woman was with a family member who was driving the Jeep when it stopped at a gas station on Portage Avenue shortly before 2 a.m. The family member went inside the gas station, and that’s when the suspect approached the vehicle, got in the front passenger door and then moved over to the driver’s seat.
Surveillance video released by police showed the family member returning to the vehicle and trying to open the driver’s door as the suspect, who appeared to be wearing white gloves, nonchalantly waved and drove away.
The last report police had was that it headed westbound on Portage Ave. towards the Perimeter Highway.
Murray said it was unclear if the woman had been in the back seat of the Jeep or the rear cargo area. He said it was possible whoever took the vehicle wasn’t aware she was there.
There was no known connection between the woman and the person who took the vehicle, Murray said.
The suspect has been described as a man around six feet tall with dark hair who had been seen wearing a grey jacket, dark shorts, a hoodie, sandals and white gloves.
The silver alert issued in the woman’s disappearance is a little-used tool police can deploy in cases where a vulnerable person or adult with a cognitive impairment goes missing and is believed to be in danger due to their condition. Other criteria spelled out under provincial law indicates the alert can be activated if police conclude releasing information to the public could lead to the person’s safe return.
