NEWCASTLE, Maine — A 76-year-old New Hampshire woman reported missing on Friday was found safe but “confused and disoriented” on Monday morning in Newcastle.
Janet Murphy of Exeter, New Hampshire, was reported as missing or endangered, according to Lt. Rand Maker of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. She was last heard from about 2:30 a.m. Friday, when she contacted a friend to say she was lost in Waltham, Massachusetts. She was heading home from choir practice at the Bellville Church in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and was low on gas.
About 6 a.m. Monday, the Lincoln County Communications Center received a report of a vehicle driving south in the northbound lane of Route 1. The vehicle did not have any lights on, but its hazard lights were flashing, Maker said.
A deputy headed to Route 1 in Newcastle was passed by a vehicle with hazard lights blinking, and the deputy stopped the car. Murphy was taken to LincolnHealth-Miles Campus in Damariscotta. Upon identifying Murphy, authorities in Maine notified police in Exeter, New Hampshire.
Her family was concerned because Murphy has memory problems, according to Exeter authorities.
“Murphy was definitely confused and disoriented when we found her,” Maker said.