A 79-year-old dementia sufferer who went missing on Wednesday night was found thanks to a locator pendant she was wearing.
Tauranga police were notified shortly after 5pm, but quickly narrowed down the search area to a block of bush at the east end of Yatton Park thanks to her WanderSearch pendant.
Snr Sgt Craig Madden says the woman had gone as far as she could then lay down.
"Without the WanderSearch pendant, we would not have found the missing woman," he said.
"She was in a very gnarly piece of bush and it was only because of the pendant that we were able to narrow down the search area.
"I'm confident that without the pendant she would've spent a very uncomfortable night in the bush and I wouldn't like to say what the outcome of that could've been."
WanderSearch pendants are supplied by Tauranga Land Search and Rescue.
Newshub.
