Authorities and a local church are searching for a 79-year-old Georgia woman with dementia who disappeared earlier this week.
The DeKalb County Police Department issued a Mattie’s Call—Georgia’s emergency missing alert for elderly or disabled individuals—for Ernestine Merritt.
Merritt was last seen around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 4, leaving her home on the 2400 block of Yolanda Trail in Ellenwood, according to police.
She is described as 4 feet 11 inches tall, weighing about 120 pounds, with gray hair. At the time she was last seen, she was wearing a black mink coat, a red skirt, and black shoes.
Merritt is a longtime member of Greenforest Community Baptist Church. In a message shared on the church’s Facebook page Sunday, the congregation asked for the public’s help.
“Sister Ernie is an usher who has recently been diagnosed with dementia,” the post read. “Please contact DeKalb County police with any information on her possible whereabouts.”
Since her disappearance, church members have been actively searching for Merritt each day and sharing her missing-person flyer online.
“We might be old, and we might be walking with canes and sticks, but we’re going to keep on walking until we find her,” church member Faye Coffield told ABC affiliate WSB.
A doorbell camera reportedly captured footage of Merritt leaving her home early Sunday morning. Her cousin, James Robinson, told WSB that she believed she was heading to church.
“I love her, and I want her back real bad,” Robinson said.
According to Fox affiliate WAGA, Merritt’s Facebook page indicates she is a retired high school English teacher.
Anyone with information about Merritt’s whereabouts is urged to call 911.
Police said Wednesday, Jan. 7, that there have been no new updates in the search.
