Found remains may be those of missing elderly woman
Published 8:47 pm Monday, January 26, 2015
The remains of an 89-year-old Orrville woman who was reported missing in 2012 may have been found Saturday evening, according to authorities.
A hunter discovered what appears to human remains in a wooded area in Beloit. The location is less than a mile away from Adline George’s house, which is where she was last seen on July 31, 2012, according to Mike Granthum with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department.
Adline was in the early stages of dementia with diabetes at the time of her disappearance.
“Of course, we would like to find her alive for the family’s sake, but at least, if it is her, we can give closure to the family,” Granthum said.
The department is awaiting autopsy results to help identify the body and determine how the individual may have died. No foul play is suspected, Granthum said Monday.
Police are not certain that the remains belong to George, but fabric at the scene matches the clothing she was last seen wearing.
Mamie George, Adline’s daughter, said her father discovered Adline missing at around 5 p.m. or 5:30 p.m.. Mamie said her father told her that he left the house for about 30 minutes to feed the dogs as Adline slept on a couch, and Adline was gone when he returned.
The Orrville woman was last seen wearing green sweatpants, house slippers and a light green shirt.
George’s family said Adline was known to walk about two miles everyday from her home on Dallas County Road 865 to Alabama Highway 22 and then back.
“She was a loved person in the community and people knew who she was,” Granthum said.
The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department conducted several grid searches on foot and through the air with the help of two K-9 units, cadaver dogs, the Dallas County Emergency Management Agency, the state fire marshal’s office, the Volunteer Fire Department Association, Adline’s family members and volunteers.
“We used every resource we knew,” Granthum said.
He said the conditions are what made it difficult for anyone to locate her, leaving the department with no leads until recently.
“There are not many houses in that area and big fields to cover,” Granthum said. “Some of them haven’t been cut for years, so there are a lot of thick woods in that area. During the summer months there is a canopy on it, so it’s hard for helicopters to spot anybody that’s under that canopy.”