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Ruth Manfredi, 87, and Florence Melker, 78, were found

EWING -- Two elderly women from Ewing reported missing were found in Newark last night.

Ewing Detective William Wolverton said sisters Ruth Manfredi, 87, and Florence Melker, 78, were found sitting in their car in Newark after apparently becoming lost while trying to drive home from Woodbridge. Police began searching for the sisters, who live together in Ewing, after Manfredi's daughter received a call at 1 a.m. yesterday from a man who said he was with the women outside a Quick Chek in Woodbridge.

The women were lost and couldn't find their way back to Ewing, and he was attempting to help them get to Route 1 South, he told the daughter.

The man, who gave the woman his contact information, apparently had tried to lead the women back to Route 1 when he lost sight of them, Wolverton said.

The women left Ewing at 1 p.m. Saturday to drive to a restaurant in Woodbridge they planned on frequenting next weekend.

After Manfredi, who suffers from dementia, and Melker failed to turn up in Ewing, Manfredi's daughter called police and reported the two missing.

Wolverton said yesterday it wasn't clear how the women ended up in Newark. A concerned citizen called police after seeing the two sitting in their car and family members were expected to pick them up last night.

A Message from Union County Sheriff Ralph Froehlich

With winter finally behind us, we begin housecleaning, preparing our gardens, making vacation plans and readjusting our schedules.

During this change of seasons, we may need some reminders of the needs of our children and the services that are available from our law enforcement agencies.

Some parents may not know that New Jersey is the only state in the country that has legislation providing a “Fingerprint on File” service be available to our children and their parents. The program began in 1982 when the public was traumatized by child abductions, including high profile cases involving the disappearance of Etan Patz and Adam Walsh.

With statistics revealing that nearly a million children are reported lost or missing each year the community looked to law enforcement for new ways to protect children. The fingerprinting program was a simply way to identify our young people. Parents receive a card featuring the child’s fingerprints and personal information. In case a child is reported missing, the card provides police with important data.

Other children’s safety programs are available to help protect our young people. The Union County Sheriff’s Office, with the assistance of Dr. Freda Remmer and her students at Kean University, developed a book for children to teach them how to properly react in a potentially dangerous situation. The book, “Play It Safe,” was carefully designed to present different scenarios for children to role play as they think out the right course of action. The book is available at no cost in English and Spanish.

Firearms are one of the principle causes of death among American children today. The Sheriff's Office has developed two videos to educate children and teens about the dangers of firearms. These two videos, Get Away, Get a Grown-Up and Teens and Guns: An American Tragedy, have been shown to school all over Union County. We also offer, at no charge, locking devices for legally registered firearms to help kept guns properly secured at home.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office also offers special services for senior citizens. The “Senior Citizen Identification Program” provides seniors with an ID card that includes name, address, contact and critical medical information that can be used by responding medical personnel in case of an emergency.

Under the innovative "Project Lifesaver" program, individuals with Alzheimer's disease, autism or other debilitating disorders are outfitted with a watch-sized transmitter that can be tracked by the Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit if the individual is reported missing or lost. New Jersey is the only state in the country that provides state-wide “Project Lifesaver” coverage.

Please take advantage of these services to help protect our children and our senior citizens. Prevention and education are paramount. For information about any of these programs, please call the Union County Sheriff’s Office at 908-527-4450.

New Jersey Silver Alert

Legislation that establishes a system to help locate missing persons who suffer from dementia or other cognitive impairments was signed into law by then-Gov. Richard Codey.

The measure, S-1551/A-2844, creates an emergency Silver Alert System for providing public notification of those missing persons in a manner that is similar to the Amber Alerts that are used nationwide to locate missing children.

“The Silver Alert System is designed to help us to quickly and safely locate people who go missing who may not be able to care for themselves,” said Sen. Bill Baroni (R-14th District), who sponsored the legislation. “People suffering from dementia and other cognitive disabilities may not be aware that they have become lost or entered into potentially dangerous situations. By sending out a Silver Alert … the public can help us to quickly locate these individuals and keep them out of harm’s way.”

The legislation requires the attorney general to establish a Silver Alert System for the rapid dissemination of information regarding a missing person who is believed to be suffering from dementia or other cognitive impairment. The program is a voluntary, cooperative effort between the state and local law enforcement agencies and the media to provide notification to the public of a missing person.

The following criteria must be met for an alert to be issued:

The person believed to be missing must be suffering from cognitive disability, regardless of age;•

A missing person’s report has been submitted to the local law enforcement agency where the person went missing;

• The person believed to be missing may be in danger of death or serious bodily injury;

• There is sufficient information available to indicate that an alert would assist in locating the person; and

• Sufficient information is available to disseminate to the public, which could assist in locating the person.

“Many of us have elderly relatives or neighbors who require care and monitoring on a continual basis,” said Baroni. “When they go missing, Silver Alerts will help us to do more than just worry that critical care isn’t being provided. Silver Alerts will help us to bring them home safe and sound.”

Northvale police using lost child program

Missing Alzheimer’s Patient Killed in Crash

Legal news for New Jersey Motor Vehicle Accident lawyers–Emergency medical services rushed to a fiery wreck on New Jersey turnpike in Burlington County, where one was killed.

Burlington County, NJ (NewYorkInjuryNews.com) – A fiery New Jersey turnpike collision that involved a semi truck, fatally injured one female driver who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. The fatal collision occurred on Tuesday morning, December 1, 2009, according to Philadelphia Inquirer.

Police and emergency medical services (EMS) reported to the horrific scene where three vehicles collided. Police reported that the accident took place early Tuesday morning around 6:10 a.m., when 67-year-old Ellen Liedtka was driving on the highway, after her family reported her missing on Monday afternoon.

Liedtka, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, apparently slowed down while driving in the fast lane of traffic in a Mercury Sable. The Mercury was then struck by a 2009 Subaru from behind, and was launched it into the middle lane. A semi truck then crashed into Liedtka’s vehicle, when it was thrown into a cement divider and tragically exploded into flames.

Police rushed to the scene and attempted to put out the fiery vehicle with the woman trapped inside. Liedtka’s injuries proved fatal at the scene, and was declared dead by the Burlington County medical examiner’s officer. Police identified the driver of the Subaru as 78-year-old Bernard Pittinsky, resident of Baldwin, New York.

He or his wife traveling in the Subaru did not sustain injuries in the crash. The operator of the semi truck, identified as 43-year-old Jhonger A. Javiera, resident of Providence, Rhode Island also escaped without injury. The three vehicle accident closed the pike’s southbound lanes for three hours.

James McClenton Missing From New Vista Nursing Home

An 80-year-old Alzheimer's patient who wandered out of a Secaucus nursing home earlier this year went missing yesterday morning from a doctor's office in Orange.

James McClenton, who now lives at New Vista Nursing Home in Newark, also suffers from schizophrenia and hypertension, was dropped off by a medical transportation service to get an MRI scan on Henry Street in Orange at 8 a.m., said his daughter Annie McClenton.

But James McClenton was never seen at the office.

Instead, according to Annie McClenton, her father was found about an hour later on Mt. Pleasant Avenue in Orange and police took him to an area hospital.

A nurse at the New Vista Nursing Home could not explain why the 80-year-old was left by himself.

"Somebody needs to be held accountable," said his son James McClenton Jr., 48. "This isn't the first time it happened."

The 80-year-old went missing for several hours in April when he wandered out of the Hudson Manor Health Care Center in Secaucus.The Orange Police Department did not provide details.

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/secaucus/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1257233115241240.xml&coll=3

Missing Galloway man, 66, has Alzheimer’s

Galloway police have asked that anyone with information about Gene Bryan call the Galloway dispatch center at 609-652-3705, ext. 1.

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP - Police are looking for a 66-year-old man who wandered away this morning from an assisted-living facility in the Pomona section of Galloway Township.

Gene Bryan, 66, was last seen wearing glasses and a white baseball cap some time before 8 a.m. today. Personnel at the facility where he lived called police more than six hours later, according to a statement from Galloway police.

Police said Bryan needs medication for diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. They described him as a white man standing 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing between 200 and 250 pounds.

Police have asked that anyone with information call the Galloway dispatch center at 609-652-3705, ext. 1.

Contact Emily Previti:

609-272-7221

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic/article_2b523b48-bcfd-11de-8ccf-001cc4c002e0.html