ASU police wellness check turns into interstate effort to help lost elderly couple

PHOENIX — Arizona State University police officers last weekend performed a wellness check that became an interstate effort to help a couple who authorities say were confused about where they were.

Officers checked on the couple, who was showing signs of confusion, on the evening of Nov. 22 in The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints parking lot located at the ASU Polytechnic campus in Mesa, according to a press release.

Though the couple was in good health, they believed they were in Pennsylvania leading officers to contact the couple’s hometown agency — Moon Township Police Department — in an effort to gather more information.

Officers learned the couple was reported missing to the Phoenix Police Department by their adult children around 9 a.m. Sunday morning, according to the release.

The couple’s eldest son helped make transport arrangements to their winter home in Sun City but officers learned the home didn’t have active utilities and couldn’t accommodate them Sunday night, so Maricopa County Crisis Services arrived to help.

ASU police, in collaboration with the family in Pennsylvania and Maricopa County Crisis Services, was able to secure lodging for the couple overnight.

“This is a real good effort on the part of our officers to take care of this couple,” ASU Police Commander William Orr said in the release.

“They could have easily walked away from the situation, but instead they ensured the couple was taken care of before moving onto another responsibility.”

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