'Project LifeSaver' Helps NRPD Find Missing New Rochelle Resident

NEW ROCHELLE, NY —The Westchester County Aviation Unit assisted the New Rochelle Police Department in finding a New Rochelle resident who is enrolled in the 'Project Lifesaver' program.

The person was found unharmed in Mount Vernon, thanks in part to members of the police departments involved who are trained to use the unique tracking system, police report. The New Rochelle Police Department was among the first to use wristband transmitters to help locate at-risk members of the community should they go missing.

The Project LifeSaver Program, administered by the Westchester County Department of the Aging, provides devices to anyone with a cognitive disorder that might cause them to become confused and wander away from home. The program enrolls the elderly as well as those suffering with traumatic brain injuries, memory loss, Alzheimer's or autism.

In March of last year, New Rochelle police were able to quickly locate a missing woman with dementia in part because she was wearing one of the bracelets with a tracking device placed inside of it. After responding to a call that the 62-year-old at-risk senior had been missing for more than 3 hours, police learned the woman was wearing a personal radio tracking device provided by the Project LifeSaver Program and located her safe and sound soon after.

Last September, a woman in New Rochelle contacted police to report that her elderly mother with dementia was missing from their home. The daughter told police that her mother is part of the Project LifeSaver program and was wearing her locator device. Using the tracking equipment, police soon found the missing woman on Webster Avenue. The woman was returned to her worried daughter at home safe and in good health.

NRPD was the first agency in Westchester County to own its own tracking equipment and to register and service its at-risk residents. Project LifeSaver is now being used in 42 states and Canada. The project was spearheaded by Detective Christopher Greco.

For more information about Project LifeSaver, or if you are interested in this program for a family member in danger of wandering, visit the NRPD website.