Buffalo Silver Alert
LOCKPORT— Sheriff James C. Voutour told the Niagara County Legislature Tuesday that his department has set up a Silver Alert system to find missing senior citizens, especially those with Alzheimer’s and other cognitive diseases.
In November, the County Legislature passed a law directing the Sheriff’s Office to create such a system.
Capt. Michael Filicetti, administrative captain of the Sheriff’s Office, told lawmakers the department plans to seek funding to buy bracelets containing Global Positioning System units for Alzheimer’s sufferers who are characterized as “frequent wanderers.” He said the units cost $250 apiece.
Voutour said there is no thought of seeking county funding for that purpose, but the department is looking for foundation and business donations.
The Sheriff’s Office also has signed up with the national program “A Child is Missing,” which is designed to trigger phone calls, thousands if necessary, to people who live near where a child or other missing person is being sought.
Filicetti said it would be used in conjunction with Amber Alert, a missing-child system that uses media bulletins and roadside lights. “It certainly doesn’t replace it,” he said.
Voutour said, “I don’t believe anybody in New York has as comprehensive a system.”
I. Kenneth Hamilton of Niagara Falls, a former member of the board of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Western New York chapter, praised the Sheriff’s Office’s response.
“They went much farther than we expected them to go,” said Hamilton, whose father died of Alzheimer’s.
Leilani Joven Pelletier, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association, said three seniors in Erie County alone died in the past year because they wandered away from home. Two died of exposure, and the third was struck by a car.
Links for residents to sign up their family members for the programs are available by clicking on “Links” at the sheriff’s Web site, www.niagarasheriff.com . In other matters Tuesday, the Legislature marked school budget referendum day by passing a resolution asking the Assembly to pass a cap on school property tax increases. The State Senate passed a cap two years ago, when it was led by Republicans.
“I don’t know if this would pass the Senate again,” said Majority Leader Richard E. Updegrove, RLockport. Like the Assembly, the Senate now has a Democratic majority.
Updegrove said that the overwhelming majority of the total property tax bill is the school tax, while county tax levies have fallen four consecutive years.
The Legislature also passed a resolution demanding state pension fund relief.
The resolution said the state-mandated county contribution to the state public employees’ pension fund is expected to be $10 million for 2011.
Updegrove’s resolution demands that State Comptroller Thomas P. Di- Napoli, the sole trustee of the pension fund, either freeze the county’s contribution at the 2009 level or cap it at 2 percent of wages paid to county employees.
The expected $10 million figure for 2011 would be about 14 percent of total wages, and about 15 percent of the county property tax levy.
Alzheimer’s Association supports New York’s ‘gold alert’ proposal
By Amber Smith/The Post-Standard
The Alzheimer's Association, Central New York chapter supports the bill awaiting Senate approval that would create a statewide alert system for people, including those with dementia, who may wander and become lost. If passed, the bill would allow the same "Amber Alert" system used to disseminate missing children alerts to also be used for adults.
Twenty-eight states already have similar programs, called Silver Alerts. New York's will be known as a Gold Alert since it won't apply only to seniors but any adult who is vulnerable and lost. A version of the bill has already passed the Assembly, where William Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, was sponsor. The bill's Senate sponsor is David Valesky, D-Oneida.
Alzheimer's caregivers say the need for alert systems is only rising. This year for the first time, authorities in Virginia have had to search for wandering, confused dementia patients more frequently than they have lost children.
"Rising numbers of searches are driving a need to retrain emergency workers, police officers and volunteers around the country who say they throw out just about every generally accepted idea when hunting for people who are, in many ways, lost from the inside out," The New York Times recently reported.
Wanderers often follow fences or power lines and tend to be drawn toward water, Virginia state rescue officials told the newspaper. They also said calling the person's name out is useless, since many have forgotten their name.
Searching for a wanderer means learning their life story, "including what sort of work they did, where they went to school and whether they fought in the war. Because Alzheimer's disease, the leading cause of dementia, works backward, destroying the most recent memories first, wanderers are often traveling in time as well as space," the Times story says.
It goes on to say that some World War II veterans have gone huge distances believing they needed to report to base or the front lines, and it gives the example of a man in Virginia who was lost for days until searchers learned he was once a dairy farmer; later they found he had headed for a cow pasture thinking it was time for the morning milking.
In Onondaga County in March, a body found in Onondaga Lake turned out to be that of a man who had been missing since Jan. 2. Frank Wlosinski, 74, a retired Syracuse firefighter disappeared after walking away from his daughter's house. Search teams including helicopters looked for him, to no avail.
If the state's Gold Alert had been in place, law enforcement and the general public would have heard about the missing man via radio broadcasts, electronic message boards and text messages.
"That first 24 hours is crucial," says Cathy James, the chief executive officer for the Alzheimer's Association, Central New York chapter. She says more than half of vulnerable adults who are not located within the first 24 hours will suffer serious injury that could include death.
The bill also includes provisions for training law enforcement so officers have an understanding and level of sensitivity toward people and families facing dementia.
http://blog.syracuse.com/cny/2010/05/alzheimers_association_supports_new_yorks_gold_alert_proposal.html
Estele Lindsey Found
HUDSON FALLS -- A 79-year-old woman with dementia who went missing Sunday morning was found about six miles from her home following an all-day search.
Estele Lindsey, 79, wandered away from the Hudson Falls residence she shared with her husband sometime after 7:30 a.m. Friends and family searched during the day, and a team of more than 50 officials from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Hudson Falls Police, Hudson Falls and Kingsbury fire departments and the state Department of Environmental Conservation began their search around 8 p.m.
A confused Lindsey was discovered around 11 p.m. by a homeowner on Notre Dame Street Extension in Kingsbury, who contacted EMS.
Hudson Falls Police Chief Randy Diamond said Lindsey was taken to Glens Falls Hospital for mild hypothermia and a minor leg injury.
The search team was prepared to continue looking for Lindsey until midnight, and resume at first light on Monday. On Sunday, a freeze warning was in effect for all of Washington County. The National Weather Service’s Albany Office expected temperatures in the region to go as low as the upper 20s.
According to police, Lindsey has gone missing before, turning up as far away as Haviland Cove in Glens Falls and in Kingsbury.
Bronx Man, 75, Missing A Week
A desperate search was on Monday night for a man who has been missing nearly a week.
The 75-year-old father and grandfather was last seen in the Morrisania section of the Bronx. His family is praying for his safe return.
Vincent Durso was going about his normal routine last Tuesday -- tennis with a friend, dinner with his wife -- then, he simply disappeared.
"He went to drive home my mom's home attendant at about 8 p.m.," daughter Lisa Durso said. "And that was the last we've seen of him."
CBS 2 HD saw the fear in Lisa's eyes.
She said her father suffers from early signs of dementia, but he's never wandered off before.
"He misplaces keys; sometimes he forgets where he parks his car," Lisa said.
Four days after he went missing investigators found Durso's car parked and locked at Crotona Park. A bloodhound tracked his scent for about a mile to some tennis courts, but then it dropped off.
Lisa has been passing out fliers in the area, desperately hoping someone will recognize her father.
"And I hope he's just ... I hope he's wandering around. I mean that's what I hope and pray for, that he is alive," Lisa said.
Several people have told police they think they may have seen Durso in the days since he was reported missing, but no one can say for sure.
"I just have hope because people have been saying that they've been seeing him ... so maybe he is out there," Lisa said.
Durso owns several buildings in the area and frequently passes through the neighborhood to collect rent. His family worries that may have made him an easy target.
Now, they can do little but pray ... and wait.
Police said they don't have any reason to suspect foul play but they are looking into all possibilities.
Paterson proposes expanding Amber alerts to some adults
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Gov. David Paterson has proposed a bill to expand New York's AMBER-alert system to Alzheimer's sufferers and certain other adults.
The system is used now to disseminate missing child alerts to police, broadcast networks, Thruway signs, lottery terminals, airports and bus terminals. Paterson wants to expand it to cover adults who have a mental disability such as Alzheimer's disease, or a physical disability that prevents them from assisting in their own recovery.
Paterson also wants to include adults who have been abducted or are suicidal.
The Alzheimer's Association supports the bill.
New York would join at least eleven states that have enacted what are frequently called "Silver Alert" systems for seniors who go missing.
Wendell Clement Found
Nassau County police said an 82-year-old Westbury man who went missing has been found.
Wendell Clement, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, had been last seen leaving his Ovington Circle home at 8 p.m. Thursday.
He returned home at 11:45 p.m. Thursday and is reportedly in good health, police said.
William G. Heffernan Still Missing
DeWitt, NY -- DeWitt police are seeking a man who has been missing since Saturday night.
William G. Heffernan, of 4606 E. Genesee St., DeWitt, is 57, 6 feet 1 inches tall and weighs about 200 pounds, police said. He was wearing blue jeans, brown boots, a green sweater and a navy-blue jacket when he was last seen leaving Upstate University Hospital in a cab at 10 a.m. Saturday after seeking medical treatment, police said.
Police did not disclose the condition for which Heffernan sought medical attention, but said he possibly has the onset of dementia and also may be depressed.
Any information on Heffernan’s whereabouts should be called into 911, police said.
Henry Delabanque Located
Nassau County Police have confirmed that Henry Delabanque, the 70-year-old Bethpage man who had been missing since 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, has been located.
According to police he is at the Syosset Hospital in good physican condition and his family has been notified. Delabanque had been traveling on foot and suffers from dementia.
Maxo Etienne has been located and is safe.
Maxo Etienne has been located and is safe. Maxo was taken by ambulance late Friday nite, and the family was informed at 0030 on Saturday, March 20,2010~
Maxo Etienne : Brooklyn, NY Missing
Please Call:718-636-6411
Circumstances:Tattoo/Piercings/Scars or other: Burned scar on his left or right arm.
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