Missing DC Woman With Alzheimer's Found in Backyard a Mile Away

A D.C. woman with Alzheimer's disease who was missing for two days was found in the backyard of a home more than a mile from where she was last seen, police say.

Someone found Nickole Scott Conerly in their backyard in the Woodley Park area on Thursday night, D.C. police department spokesman Dustin Sternbeck told News4. She was taken to a hospital in good condition.

Conerly, 66, was being treated on Friday for dehydration and an injury to her leg, her son Carrington Scott Conerly said. She is in good spirits, talking and laughing, but doesn't remember what happened.

"She remembers the day before but nothing else," Conerly's son said.

Conerly's disappearance triggered a major search in Northwest D.C. as temperatures soared into the 90s.

Conerly, a retired Howard University counselor, was seen walking her terrier-mix Missy about 7 p.m. Tuesday in the 3400 block of Quebec Street NW, several blocks northwest of the Cleveland Park Metro station.

A caregiver who checks in on Conerly daily stopped by her home on Quebec Street NW just before noon the next day and saw that neither Conerly nor her dog were there, Conerly's sister-in-law Marjorie Scott said. Initially, the caregiver wasn't alarmed. But after an hour passed and they still had not returned, the caregiver called a family member, who called police.

Conerly began experiencing memory loss about five years ago but had always known her address, Scott said. She wondered if Conerly got separated from her dog, looked for her and then lost her bearings. 

Someone found the dog Wednesday evening near Davenport Street and Reno Road NW, about a mile north of where they were last seen together, Scott said.

D.C. police issued a Silver Alert for Conerly early Thursday. Officers rang doorbells, passed out flyers and used K-9s.

Finally, Conerly was found in the backyard of a home in the 3000 block of Cleveland Ave. NW, west of the Woodley Park-Zoo Metro station. A homeowner saw her outside and called police.

Conerly's son thanked police for their efforts.

"I was flabbergasted by how well MPD was helping us," he said.