83-yr-old woman missing after walking from National Airport along MVT

More info from WJLA: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/05/victoria-kong-reported-missing-after-arriving-at-reagan-national-airport–88380.html

Her family members searched the MVT over the weekend and talked to taxi drivers, airport employees and runners and cyclists on the trail. The grandmother is reportedly showing early signs of dementia, which may explain her actions.

The Park Police, MWAA personnel and two volunteer search groups are also looking for her.

I think it was the MWAA search team that found her. Park Police and two volunteer search teams were also looking for her over the weekend.

The canine units seemed to have been inaccurate. An earlier report said that the dogs detected her scent at Roosevelt Island. But that’s two miles past Gravelly Point. It’s unlikely that she walked all the way up there and doubled back, after already walking from the airport to Gravelly Point.

To be fair to the wheelchair attendant, someone pointed out that a security video shows that the attendant was waiting at the gate for her, with a sign reading her name. Ms. Kong walked past the attendant, whether from an oversight or because of mental confusion (short-term memory loss or dementia). But there is some confusion about whether the airline should have been more vigilant about assisting her and ensuring that she was accompanied at the airport. At a stopover en route, American Airlines did provide an assistant who helped her navigate through that airport. (I think it was Miami.)

While I did not know the family personally, I find it frustrating because I could have easily decided, on a whim, to head over to the trail for a casual bike ride that day. Of course, I didn’t know what was happening that day. But it’s hard not to think that maybe deciding to head to one trail instead of another, there would have been an opportunity to prevent this tragedy. It would not have taken much effort on my part, just doing what I normally do: riding along the MVT. It’s hard to say if I would have noticed anything unusual about a person walking on the trail. But it was getting chilly that evening, so it might have struck me as odd that an elderly woman was walking in the windy conditions without a jacket. But who can say?

Bike traffic is usually light on the MVT on Friday evenings. The cooler weather probably deterred more of the casual cyclists from riding that day too. It’s also unfortunate that it was so cold on a night in May in Arlington. In comparison, the predicted overnight low this coming Friday is in the mid 60s. Just a lot of little things that combined to make everything go so wrong. And right before Mother’s Day too.