Woman With Alzheimer's Missing From Morningside Heights Since Saturday
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A woman with Alzheimer's disease has been missing since Saturday, when her frantic husband said he took his eyes off her for a second and she took off.
As CBS2's Alice Gainer reported, Debreh Gilbert, 63, was last seen on Broadway at 110th Street in Morningside Heights late Saturday afternoon.
Gilbert was at a Rite Aid drugstore with her husband when she suddenly took off. Thy walked in around 4:45 pm. Saturday and she walked out alone as he was paying at the pharmacy.
"Desperation," Gilbert's husband, Scott Kegelman, said in tears. "I can't think of her outside."
Kegelman, who has been married to Gilbert for 24 years, said he only took his eyes off her briefly.
"Within less than two minutes I was there, and usually she's right behind me and she wasn't there -- wasn't I the aisle we left her in," Kegelman said. "I ran around like a maniac."
Kegelman said Gilbert was diagnosed with Alzheimer's four years ago. She was once an avid motorcyclist.
"She was a blisteringly fast motorcycle rider," Kegelman said. "Her nickname was 'Peg Scraper.'"
Gilbert was also a philanthropist – a well-traveled and intelligent woman. In one the village in West Africa, Gilbert singlehandedly raised money to build a water well, CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported.
But her health has drastically deteriorated. Kegelman said sometimes Gilbert no longer even remembers her name, who she is, or her philanthropic work.
Now she has been missing for three days, and that means three days off her medications.
"I know she's just terrorized. I mean, imagine a 6-year-old kid who's lost his mommy and daddy, and wandering around this big city at night," Kegelman said. "It's rainy. It's cold. She refuses to wear any winter garments."
Gilbert was last seen wearing her distinctive Harley-Davidson jacket and a dark-colored beret. On surveillance video, she was seen turning left out of the Rite Aid store.
An employee at a nearby Famous Famiglia pizza store just a block away remembers seeing Gilbert on Saturday.
"About 30 minutes – 30 to 40 minutes," the employee said, adding that Gilbert was "She sitting there; she was walking around."
The employee said Gilbert ordered two slices of pizza, but then left.
"(She) asked for a slice, and someone came inside the store and he paid for her and he leaves, after he leaves she left too," the employee said.
On Tuesday afternoon, neighbor Robert McNaughton and his two sons put up flyers around Mount Sinai Hospital at East 101st Street. Thinking she might turn up there.
"Deb is an amazing person and we've just got to help her any way we can," McNaughton said.
Gilbert's 64th birthday is on Thursday. Kegelman, who now only works one day a week to care full time for his wife, is hoping to find her before then.
"Precious wife Deb," he said in tears.
Gilbert stands 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 130 pounds. She has dark blonde hair and blue eyes.
Gilbert does not have identification on her, hence why it is possible she could be in a hospital. Those looking for her are also asking around at bus depots.
Anyone with information on Gilbert's whereabouts is asked to call the NYPD.