I Went to Visit my Mom at Her Nursing Home—and They Told Me She Had Been Picked Up a Week Ago.
After my 86-year-old mom Martha fell and her dementia worsened, I made the painful choice to place her in a nursing home. I visited every weekend with muffins, nail polish, and her favorite robin calendars. But one Saturday, she was gone. Staff told me a “cousin” with fake documents had taken her.
Police reviewed footage: a confident woman with glasses led Mom away. Days later, I discovered a voicemail from Mom—mentioning a lake, a white house, and a dog named Brutus. A Facebook post went viral, and a tip led us to Lake Thorn. There she was on a porch, Brutus at her feet. The woman, a serial fraudster, was arrested.
Mom came home with me. I set up a blue room with flowers and her robin calendar. Though dementia dims her memory, small moments—her smile, her voice saying “There’s my Lily”—mean everything.
Her bravery saved her too; she’d left a note: “Don’t trust the woman with glasses. Tell Lily I love her.”
Now I share our story to raise awareness. Because sometimes one message, one share, is all it takes to bring someone home safe.
