At-Risk Missing Petaluma Woman Found Safe In San Francisco

PETALUMA, CA — Update from the Petaluma Police Department: "At 6:50 p.m. Thursday, San Francisco Police Department called our department to let us know that they had located Virginia Fuquay. At approximately 6:20 PM, SFPD received a call from a Loss Prevention Officer at Target in the 700 block of Mission Street in San Francisco. The Loss Prevention Officer said she had been wandering the aisles of the store for over two hours, so they contacted her and recognized her as the missing person from Petaluma. She was transported for a medical evaluation in San Francisco and then will be brought back to Petaluma. We wish to thank everyone that has assisted us in locating Virginia and for safe return to Petaluma. "

ORIGINAL POST: As the search continued Thursday for Virginia Fuquay, reported missing Tuesday night from Petaluma, the Petaluma Police Department said it received information that she may have been seen in San Francisco.

Investigators followed up on the tip and spoke to a security guard who said he thought he spoke to Virginia around noon Wednesday. He was on duty at The Beacon Apartments in the 200 block of King Street in San Francisco when he saw a woman trying to get into the locked apartment building and said she lived there, Petaluma police said Thursday in an update.

"He did not recognize her and assisted her by asking the apartment management to check if she was a resident," Petaluma police Lt. Tim Lyons said. "They determined she was not a resident. He said he helped her get to a nearby Wells Fargo to see if she had an account there and could figure out her full name and possibly where she lived."

• READ MORE: Petaluma Police Continue Search For At-Risk Missing Woman, 68

The bank was not able to help her with a check because she did not have any identification on her. Meanwhile, the guard called the San Francisco Police Department. While he waited for an officer, the woman wandered off.

After that, the guard and the officer could not find her.

The clothing description matched that of Fuquay, who was last seen wearing a short-sleeved red blouse but no jacket; black pants, orange shoes and a pink beanie.

Petaluma PD worked with SFPD to get more fliers distributed in the area of King Street in San Francisco and SFPD beat officers have been checking the area.

Searches were conducted from the air and from the ground Wednesday in the Petaluma area.

However, once Virginia's identity was confirmed in San Francisco, the Petaluma Police Department and the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team suspended their search in Petaluma.

"We are grateful to find out that Virginia was seen alive yesterday in San Francisco, and we are hopeful that she will be found soon," Lyons said.

Fuquay, who may suffer from dementia, is described as a Filipino woman who is 5 feet tall and weighs 90 pounds.

Around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, she walked away from her residence in the 1400 block of Mountain View Avenue in Petaluma. She did not leave in a car, nor did she take a purse or a cell phone, according to police.

Authorities asked anyone with information about her whereabouts, or anyone who may have seen her or someone matching her description, to call the Petaluma Police Department at 707-778-4326 or the San Francisco Police Department at 415-553-0123.