Missing woman update: located alive

The missing elderly woman from Punta Gorda has been located alive, a short distance from where she has been staying with her family.

Searchers were out again today at daylight looking for94 year old Kimie Hashiba; dive team members from the Sheriff’s Office and Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were searching the water, while others from a number of different agencies searched on land. Detective Paul Bean spotted her wheelchair near 415 Palm Drive at 11 a.m. about a quarter mile from the Seaside Avenue home where she was last seen in the Upper Keys. He followed a trail in the dirt into a wooded area and found her lying next to a boat trailer. She was alive, suffering from dehydration, and is being transported to Mariner’s Hospital for treatment.

The frail Japanese woman, who suffers from dementia and does not speak English, was last seen at 99 Sea Side Avenue, Unit 8. Her daughter and son-in-law told Deputy Annette Simo they saw her after dinner, at about 8 p.m. when she went outside to sit on some the porch steps. Her daughter went outside at about 8:40 p.m. to check on her and she and her wheelchair were both gone. The family searched the immediate area for her and then called the Sheriff’s Office for help at about 9:15 p.m.

Sheriff’s deputies, detectives as well as officers from Florida Highway Patrol and Florida Marine Patrol responded to help with the search, which continued until 3:40 a.m. when it was called off until daylight.