An elderly Australian couple, Colin, 89, and Claudette Geraghty, 83, who left a care facility shortly after arriving, were found 32 hours later over 100 miles away from their Melbourne residence. The couple had expressed a desire to be home together, prompting Colin to leave a message for their daughter, Linda McKelvie.
The message read: "Don't worry, thank you for your help, I'll make sure I look after her." McKelvie, concerned about her parents' well-being, as both suffer from Alzheimer's and vascular dementia respectively and require daily medication, urged them to return.
The Geraghtys had only been at the Melba Retirement Village for a few days, having arrived the previous Tuesday. According to their daughter, they did not like being in the facility and felt their choices were being taken away. "I think because they were recently in respite care it was such a change for them," McKelvie stated. "They didn't really like being in care and I think they just wanted to be home together."
CCTV footage showed the couple visiting The Glen Shopping Centre on Saturday, purchasing their medication before driving off in their white 2015 Mazda 2. Their neighbor raised the alarm when they did not answer later that afternoon. The couple, married for 65 years, were eventually located near Maryborough, north-west of Melbourne, on Sunday night.
This was not their first attempt to leave the facility that week; police had been called days earlier for a previous incident. Both Colin and Claudette require full-time care, with Claudette also experiencing seizures.