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Police locate missing elderly woman

Posted at 4:40 PM, Jun 28, 2013
and last updated 2013-06-29 19:06:34-04

SALT LAKE CITY - An elderly woman who wandered away from her care facility and was reported missing Friday was found safely Saturday afternoon.

Salt Lake City Police Department officials said a resident saw 65-year-old Linda Jensen sitting on the porch of an abandoned home near 1700 North Redwood Road and called police just after 2 p.m. Saturday.

When police arrived, they realized the person on the porch was the missing woman. Police said when they arrived they found that Jensen, who suffers from Alzheimer's, thought she lived there. Jensen was playing Solitaire on the porch, and police said she was talkative, in good health and in good spirits.

Jensen's son, Brian Baker, said they were very worried about Jensen, particularly as darkness fell Friday night.

"Wasn't really nervous until about after 12 o`clock last night," he said. "I realized she was going to be spending the night in an unfamiliar place, started having bad thoughts in my head of what could have happened to her. And when I got the call about 20 minutes ago, I was just totally relieved, like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders."

Caregivers said Jensen apparently wandered away from her care facility, located at 1001 North Featherstone Drive (1750 West). She hadn't been seen since around 10 a.m. Friday.

Officials were worried about Jensen, who suffers from diminished capacity and requires medication, because of the heat.