MIRACULOUS RESCUE OF MISSING ELDERLY

[Anchor Lead]

Korea's central region was gripped by a cold spell last weekend, and some areas saw heavy snowfalls. A woman with mental disabilities who went missing during the cold weather has been rescued miraculously. She is said to be unharmed.

[Pkg]

Police and residents have gathered by a rice paddy field. An elderly woman wrapped in a coat squats by a patrol car, shaking severely. Police officers help her get in the car. The woman in her 60s was rescued two days after she was first reported missing. Police and local residents looked for her for two days in a row, day and night, as this rural village has no security cameras. They finally found her in a drainage canal. Had she been found any later, her life could have been in serious danger because of subzero temperatures. She didn't have a mobile phone on her that could've helped the police locate her.

[Soundbite] Local resident(VOICE MODIFIED) : "The day she disappeared, it was freezing outside and snowed heavily. If she had stayed outside the canal, she would have frozen to death."

The woman, who has a mental disability, escaped from the cold in a dry bush inside the drainage canal.

[Soundbite] Bae Myung-seok(Korea Alpine Rescue Association) : "She was able to escape from the wind because of the bushes in the canal. It helped her keep her body temperature from dropping suddenly."

Some 11,000 seniors 60 and older go missing nationwide every year. Most of them are rescued quickly and return to their loved ones unharmed. However, some never make it back home. Experts say time is of the essence when it comes to finding people who go missing, especially those who have dementia. They are calling for registering seniors with dementia on a police app for the socially vulnerable or supplying GPS devices that can replace mobile phones.