East Texas

By MALENA OGLES
Staff Writer

GOOD SPRINGS — Last June, Bobby Hunt was weeding his yard along County Road 454 in Good Springs, when his wife of 51 years simply walked away. Shirley Hunt, like many Alzheimer’s disease patients, was known to wander.

“She couldn’t have been gone long,” Hunt said, estimating 30 minutes at most.

When she couldn’t be located the Hunts called the police.

That was one year ago today. At first, blame was circulated. Family questioned what could have been done, what wasn’t done. None of that matters now, because the 73-year-old mother and grandmother still has not returned home safely.

Three ground searches and thousands of missing posters have yielded few leads.

“One day I feel like Shirley is out there somewhere … the next day I feel like Shirley is dead,” her husband said.

During deer hunting season, the family waited, fearful of bad news.

“We were kind of relieved when no one called,” he said. “We thought for sure if she had walked on in the woods someone would find her.”

His hope now is to get his wife’s picture on national television and, by chance, someone would recognize her face.

Rusk County Sheriff’s department investigators said Mrs. Hunt is still an open and active missing person’s case, although few new leads are coming in.

“We’re following up on everything,” said Rusk County crime prevention officer Brian Bathke.

Mrs. Hunt’s family has taken an active role in her search. In September, Kim Vaughn, Mrs. Hunt’s daughter, drove to New Mexico, stopping at all police stations, hospitals and shelters along the way, leaving missing posters and telling anyone who would listen about her mother.

In March, the Hunt family drove to Houston to look in homeless shelters. Hunt said their best hope is for her to be staying in a shelter.

“People with Alzheimer’s cannot make it on the street,” he said.

A year ago, search dogs tracked her scent about a quarter of a mile south on CR 454 — then there was nothing. The scent stopped. With U.S. Highway 79 so close, Mrs. Vaughn thinks her mother might have caught a ride to Amarillo, where family lives.

“My gut instinct is that she got out there on the highway and someone picked her up,” Mrs. Vaughn said. “People see an elderly person walking in the heat and they’ll stop to help. Whoever picked her up thought they were helping, they just didn’t know.”

Police followed up on several calls from people saying they saw her. The woman they all saw was not Shirley Hunt.

“It was eerie to see her,” Mrs. Vaughn said, “because from about 100 yards away she looked just like my mother.”

False leads have not discouraged her. She says it’s because one day the right lead will come along.

“You just don’t know when it will be the right person,” Mrs. Vaughn said.

She finds some comfort knowing that people still remember her mother, and continue to look for her.

Mr. Hunt remembers his wife as a good mother, friend and neighbor. This August will be their 52nd wedding anniversary.

“As far as I’m concerned we’re still married,” he said.

Before the Alzheimer’s, Mrs. Hunt was an active member of South Side Baptist Church in Henderson, a skilled seamstress and an avid canner who was known for her dill pickles.

She made big southern dinners on Sunday with roast and potatoes, and was quick to offer help to a neighbor in need.

“She was a wonderful mom,” Vaughn said. “Just because it was a year ago it doesn’t make any difference. We need closure.”

So far, efforts to bring national media attention to her mother’s disappearance have been unsuccessful.

“No one seems interested,” Hunt said.

Recently, Mrs. Vaughn wrote a letter to former Speaker of the U.S. House Representatives Newt Gingrich, a member of the Alzheimer’s Study Group, which was established by Congress to develop a National Alzheimer’s Strategic Plan.

Almost 20,000 elderly residents in East Texas suffer from Alzheimer’s.

“With the growing number of Alzheimer’s patients they need to have a national program for senior citizens who go missing,” Mrs. Vaughn said.

In Texas, the Silver Alert allows the Texas Department of Public Safety to send messages to law enforcement agencies and media in the state when an elderly person who is physically impaired goes missing.

While Mrs. Vaughn says that program is wonderful, she thinks it needs to go a step further. She would like to see all counties with Project Lifesaver.

Project Lifesaver tracks and monitors Alzheimer’s and dementia patients 24 hours a day. The patient wears a wristband, about the size of a watch, containing a 1-ounce, battery-operated radio transmitter that emits an automatic tracking signal.

Each client has a specific frequency and if they turn up missing, the caregiver can call 911 and alert authorities that the person is a member of Project Lifesaver. Law enforcement can then search with an antenna and listen to the intensity of the signal as they move to locate the missing person.

The average time of recovery has been less than 30 minutes.

“Project Lifesaver needs to be nationwide, not just in counties that can afford to buy it,” she said.

Since Mrs. Hunt’s disappearance, Project Lifesaver has come to Rusk County. The Henderson High School class of 1954 — Mrs. Hunt’s graduating class — raised half of the money to get the project started.

Mrs. Hunt is described as a white female, around 5 feet 4 inches, 120 pounds with white hair and hazel eyes. A $10,000 reward is offered for information leading to Mrs. Hunt’s whereabouts. Call the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office at 903-657-3581 with any information.

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