A 77-year-old was found safe Tuesday after a large-scale search by Clackamas County rescue crews, according to the sheriff’s office.
Family members had reported the woman, Ulrike Reinoeh, missing on February 15, saying she had walked away from her daughter’s home near Dodge Park, which is in an unincorporated area of Clackamas County north of Sandy.
Reinoeh, who was recently diagnosed with dementia, has been living with her daughter for only a short time.
Clackamas County Search and Rescue crews, including ground searchers, two K-9 teams, and a drone searched area river banks, local roads, trails and Dodge Park for Reinoeh.
Mountain Wave Emergency Communications and American Medical Response Reach and Treat assisted in the effort.
One K-9 officer, Poppy, and her handler, tracked Reinoeh approximately 2 miles down Marsh Road, through Dodge Park and along an unmarked trail west of the Sandy River until being relieved.
As it became dark, a rescue coordinator who was familiar with the area suggested searching a maze of fisherman’s trails downstream along the west bank of the Sandy with a fresh K-9, Jacqui.
Sure enough, the pup and her handler led the team to Reinoeh around 7 p.m. She was cold and lying under a fallen tree, deputies said. Reinoeh had walked nearly two and a half miles from her daughter’s home.
With some warming and encouragement, Reinoeh was able to walk to a team that had hiked in with a wheeled litter and was transported to a waiting ambulance.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office thanked the search crews who participated in the effort and all who had helped spread the word about the missing person.
