Tracking Dog Helps Find Missing Woman

ST. CLAIR SHORES (WWJ) - Police, deputies and a tracking dog helped find a 76-year-old woman who walked away from her St. Clair Shores home in the cold and snowy weather.

The woman, who suffers from Alzheimer's, was found over two hours after she disappeared from her house near Eight Mile and I-94.

Macomb County officials tell WWJ when police couldn't find the woman they called for the tracking dog, named Zeke.

Zeke was brought in by Deputy Szlaga all the way from Romeo and the dramatic move paid off in a life-saving effort.

The dog followed a scent through several neighborhoods until she was founded huddled up in the snow.

The officers and canine almost certainly saved the woman from death early Friday morning, St. Clair Shores Deputy Police Chief Glenn Bowlin said.

"They did an outstanding job finding this lady who was half-frozen to death," Bowlin said. "The officers looked and looked and looked and it was virtually impossible to find her early in the morning in the dark."

"She was found in a back yard huddled near the ground next to a shed about a half-mile from her house," Bowlin said. "The wind chill kept the temperature outside at 12 degrees and the woman was suffering from hypothermia."

Authorities tell WWJ the outcome of this could have been a lot worse for the woman.