Grandma Margarita Bernadez, reported missing in Harlem, found
NEW YORK -- A missing grandma who just arrived in the United States two weeks ago has been found, according to an advocate for the family.
Margarita Bernadez went missing on May 31 when trying to get from one city shelter to another.
Around noon Thursday, she was spotted at a subway station on East 180th Street and Morris Park Avenue in the Bronx. The family rushed to the train station, but the 68-year-old wasn't there.
An advocate for the family says shortly after, Bernadez was found.
"Somebody dropped the ball and let this poor woman out of a shelter and made it her responsibility to make it back to the other shelter," Al Otro Lado volunteer Judy McQuistion said.
Bernadez is currently at a local hospital.
Her daughter-in-law explained to CBS2's Astrid Martinez that Bernadez was forced to stay at a separate shelter called Franklin's Women Shelter in the Bronx. From there, Bernadez was sent to another shelter in Harlem.
A family friend who has been helping them navigate the issue say it was at Jardin's Assessment Shelter that a staff worker gave Bernadez a MetroCard to get back to the Bronx on June 7, but the family says she was not reported missing until June 13.
"So up until this point, you know, the family was hopeful that she would be here when we got here on June 13. So it's heartbreaking. It's been heartbreaking ... We're all grieving for them and are almost like, why did we... why come to New York when... Why should this happen to them after all they suffered? It's heartbreaking," McQuistion said.
The family says Bernadez doesn't speak any English, suffers from schizophrenia and did not have her medication on her.