Markham police detail how they found missing 84-year-old woman with Alzheimer's

MARKHAM, Ill. - After nearly three days missing and a frantic, all-hands-on-deck search, police have found 84-year-old Markham resident Olga Gutierrez.

"I couldn't be prouder of everyone that's involved," Markham Police Chief Jack Genius said Thursday.

Gutierrez, who lives with Alzheimer's disease, was located at 5 p.m. Wednesday — coincidentally Gutierrez's 84th birthday — in a vacant home, not far from her own.

"We checked culverts, we checked fields, we checked sheds, we checked everything," said Genius. "We had drones from Cook County and Orland Fire Protection District, we had homeland security."

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Genius described how police were able to locate Gutierrez.

"They found that there was a little bit of a gap where they could get in," he said. "So the police officers went in, started searching the house, and they found her in the basement, laying on a mattress."

The house where police located her is just seven doors down from Gutierrez's own home. Police are still investigating how she ended up there.

"It's hard to find somebody in good condition after three days," said Genius. "Especially somebody of that age and frailty and with Alzheimer's."