Two employees of a Wausau, Wisc. CBS affiliate are being credited with finding a 74-year-old woman who walked away from the assisted living facility where she was living
Karen Lauren was found by WSAW weekend anchor Holly Chilsen and producer Ashley Hommer, five hours after she disappeared. The two were covering the search for Lauren when they found her.
“Seeing her face, ‘We’re like, wait a minute, I think that might be her.’ Holly instantly pulls over, gets out of the car,” said Hommer. “We figure out that it’s [Lauren], call police and we’re immediately on the phone with Wausau police, ‘Hey, we found her’ and it was a crazy whirlwind at that point.”
They said they found Lauren about a mile away from her home.
“I think we did what anybody else would have done,” said Hommer. “No matter what, we wanted to see someone reunited with their family.”
“All you hope for is that good outcome, and as long as we have that,” said Chilsen. “It’s not about us. It’s about [Lauren] and her family and the face that they have—this huge relief when things could go a lot worse.”