Nancy Characteristics that Might Help with the Search

Kimberly Kelly is an expert on Search and Rescue for wanderers.  She has written a detailed report on Nancy that has a tremendous amount of information of great value in searching for her.  I am going to try to summarize these points in a list.

Appearance (and remember, these things may have changed …)

• Wearing wire frame glasses
• She also has some clip-on sunglasses that she was carrying in a black glasses case.  She often wore those over the glasses
• Wearing black wrist watch
• May have on a MediAlert metal bracelet (had a tendency to remove this)
• Wearing faded blue jeans
•  Navy Blue shoes without a logo or strip (Skechers)

Habits and tendencies from the past likely to still be present

• Nancy is a “rule follower”.  She is unlikely to cross a street, especially a busy one, without a pedestrian walk sign; She is unlikely to climb a fence
•  She likes walking, but is not particularly fond of crowds.  (see below for caveats)
•  Nancy is not particularly fond of children (so, would not be drawn to an elementary school)
•  She is fond of cats – not necessarily to the point of going over and petting a strange cat, but possibly
• She is fond of parks and ponds and water fowl
•  Recognizes “Little Free Libraries” in people's front yards and may be attracted to one  

•   Our car is a green Audi station wagon and she would recognize that – so more generally, may be attracted to green cars

Behaviors probable or possible due to her Alzheimer’s Disease

• Nancy’s sense  of “personal space” has been affected, so she may not be aware that she is in a crowd
• She would be upset if someone she did not know approached her (for example, to reach out to her).  She is likely to push them away, and perhaps say “No!  Go away!"\
• It is also common for AD patients to be skittish or nervous about law enforcement – however, I have seen no evidence of this in Nancy
•  She may hesitate before going through a doorway, or, if being led, stop altogether and not go through the doorway
•  Nancy is experiencing incontinence.  She has displayed both an unawareness that she has had an accident, and conversely, embarrassment or anxiety afterwards
•   Nancy has certain phrases that she is likely to repeat: “I’m stupid”; “I can’t do anything”;  “I can’t do this”; and odd phrases that include “Kirk” (in place of some other noun)
•   Overall, she hardly speaks.  She’s not likely to answer a question verbally, and often will look at the questioner blankly.  Very unlikely to verbally ask for help.

·