A Houston woman was found passed out on a sidewalk after being missing for two days, but her new black Labrador mix, Maximus, apparently hasn’t left her.
Pearl Radcliff, 84, went missing on Wednesday and was last seen in the 11800 block of Acadian Drive in the afternoon. “Pearl has been known to walk her dogs,” Texas rescue organization EquuSearch said at the time.
Reports suggest that Radcliff is suffering from dementia and memory issues. More than 55 million people are living with the disease worldwide, and there are nearly 10 million new cases each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Getty Images
As reported by news outlet KHOU 11, Radcliff had adopted Maximus just over a week before his disappearance.
Research shows that disappearance is a huge risk for people with dementia or memory problems.
According to Professor Michael Hornberger of Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in England, “around 70% of people with dementia may disappear at least once, with some risk of disappearing several times”.
People with dementia are also more likely to wander in areas with dense, complicated and messy road networks, according to UEA research.
Radcliff’s nephew, Dawne Griffith, was alerted to her whereabouts Friday afternoon just before 5 p.m., according to KHOU 11. The 84-year-old had been taken to Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital in Houston. .
Officials said Radcliff was doing well, which Griffith confirmed. Prior to receiving the call, Texas EquuSearch volunteers were heading to Radcliff’s home to help with the search efforts.
Radcliff’s dog who stays by his side shows just how deep the relationship between a dog and his human goes, no matter how new.
Earlier this year, a Kansas dog was missed by his owners so much he managed to escape from the kennel while they were on vacation.
Dexter did the impossible and returned two miles from home, all alone. Sarah and Jeremy Henson were alerted to movement on their porch via their doorbell camera system, only to find their pet had gone home to be reunited.
In February, a man’s body was discovered in Arkansas after days of searching, but his pit bull was found alive next to his owner, a week after they went missing.
Newsweek contacted the Houston Police Department for comment.