Motown Reporter Finds Missing Woman

It’s radio, but it’s still a good story.

WWJ (Detroit) Reporter Mike Campbell was doing a story on a 89 year old missing woman with dementia. But he did more than report the story, he found the woman.

Authorities say Barbara Kasler wandered away from her home near around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday. Police issued a missing person alert as officers searched the neighborhood with K-9 units and a helicopter.

While Campbell was in the area working the story, just before 7:30 a.m., he noticed a woman wearing pajamas and slippers near Otter Creek Drive and Oak Run. As he approached her, he realized it was Kasler.

"I was following a helicopter that was out looking for her," Campbell said. "I swear -- I did a U-turn at an intersection and she wasn't there when I passed the intersection. But when I finished the U-turn, she just appeared at the back of this car that I had seen before. I recognized it because it had a smashed in rear end, so I knew I had been in that area already this morning -- and there she was. I got out and asked if she was Barbara and she said, 'Yeah.'"

Campbell invited her into the news car and turned the heater on full blast while waiting for police to respond to the area. Kasler, who was alert but confused after being in the cold for several hours, told Campbell she forgot to make plans and went out walking, but became lost.

"I am OK, just cold," she said. "I'm not mad at anybody, I just wanted to do something different."

Good for you Mike!

Screen Shot 2019-01-10 at 6.03.44 AM.png

H/T WWJ