Family thanks search crews who found missing 82-year-old Northwood resident

An 82-year-old woman who lives at the Bedford, N.S., campus of a Northwood long-term care facility has been found safe Monday after leaving the home and spending the night in the woods, her family said.

"She has been found. Thank you Jesus she is OK," said Katelyn Berrigan, whose grandmother Patricia Levy went missing Sunday.

She said her family is grateful to the many people — including volunteers from the community and those who travelled to Bedford  — who helped search and offered support.

 "Without you guys this would not have been possible," she said. 

Berrigan discovered her grandmother wasn't in her room as usual when she stopped in for her daily visit around 4 p.m. on Sunday. 

After consulting with staff, they determined Levy had left the long-term care home on Gary Martin Drive around 1:40 p.m. using her walker. 

'Thank you, everybody': Family of senior found safe thanks searchers

3 years ago

Duration 0:48

Katelyn Berrigan thanked the search and rescue teams for combing through the woods overnight Sunday, and for finding her grandmother safe on Monday morning. Berrigan's grandmother went missing from Northwood in Bedford, N.S., on Sunday afternoon.

Thomas McQuinn, a close friend of the woman's family, said everyone responded quickly and within an hour people were giving tips and offers of help were flooding in. 

Halifax Regional Police and search and rescue crews from Halifax looked for the missing woman overnight. 

"Especially the way things are in the world right now. For people to drop everything, till one, two o'clock last night, still getting people showing up with flashlights, quads — the whole nine yards, it's amazing," McQuinn said. 

Crews from across the province arrived to assist with the ground search Monday morning and a provincial helicopter scanned the area from above, Const. John MacLeod said. 

Police announced Levy had been found shortly after 11 a.m.

'A tough woman'

McQuinn said it seems she had wandered off a path and gone deep into the wooded area close to her home. 

"She's a tough woman," he said. 

Berrigan said her grandmother was being checked out but appeared to be fine. 

"It's a weight that I wouldn't want anybody to feel, but I thank everybody for lifting that weight off me and my family," she said. 

"It's incredible. There's people out there that have such amazing hearts. You don't have to know them. But just know, you're never alone. You'll always have someone to stand with." 

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