Search for missing Alzheimer's patient has happy ending

GAINESVILLE - A search underway west of Gainesville for an elderly woman discovered missing from her Browns Bridge Road home early Saturday is over and she appears okay.

Thelma Doss, 87, is an Alzheimer's patient who apparently wandered away from home at 5122 Browns Bridge Road near Ash Circle before dawn, according to Sgt. Stephen Carey of the Hall County Sheriff's Office.

Col. Jeff Strickland of the Hall County Sheriff's Office says Doss was found on Trudy Circle about two miles from her home shortly before 9:00 a.m. by a deputy and a caregiver.
Her son, Rives Doss, said he was grateful.

"As far as I know she's in good shape," Doss said. "The Hall County Sheriff's Department did a great job along with the Georgia State Patrol and I could not ask for more help than they gave us."

Rives said she was discovered missing about 6:00 Saturday morning, launching a massive search by sheriff's deputies supported by a State Patrol helicopter.