Eagle-Eyed Deerfield Cop Spots Missing Elderly Couple
(CBS) – She says she was just doing her job. But the actions of a Deerfield police officer helped bring a missing elderly couple to safety.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports.
Donald and Jeanette Warren of Wood Dale had been missing since Tuesday, until the officer found them Thursday night.
Officer Rheanna Hall was on routine patrol when she spotted the vehicle matching the description of the one the Warrens we're last seen driving.
"I recognized the plate from a bulletin I had seen earlier in the day. I ran the plate through the dispatch center and it came back to the Warrens," Hall says.
With lights flashing for a few blocks and a horn blaring, she was finally able pull the couple over near the fire department.
"Once I approached the van, I said, 'Mr. Warren?' he said, 'What's this all about?' I said, 'You've got a lot of people looking for you guys.'"
The Warrens had been the focus of an intense search after leaving their west suburban home Tuesday for a medical appointment. Donald Warren, 87, is the founder of the Rosemont-based Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps.
Police say he and his 80 year-old wife suffer from dementia.
The couple had been spotted at a Dunkin' Donuts and gas station at the corner of Irving and Western in Chicago before they turned up in Deerfield. Officer Hall called paramedics.
"They weren't able to tell me how they made it here. Fortunately, I was able to find them," she says.
Officer Hall says she's grateful, this story had a happy ending. In her nearly 13-year career, she has seen a much different outcome for other families in similar situations.
"Both Mr. and Mrs. Warren had huge smiles on their faces when their son and daughter walked through the door. It touched my heart," she says.
