UPDATE: Missing Elderly Woman Found at West Virginia Hotel

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA -- (UPDATE Thursday 12 noon): Police Thursday say they have found an 80-year old woman who had gone missing Tuesday. On Thursday, officers with the Winchester Police located Catherine Hemlepp, the subject of a Virginia State Police Senior Alert. Around 9:45 a.m., Hemlepp was found safe at a Best Western hotel in Bridgeport, W. Va., approximately three hours from Winchester. Officers with the Winchester Police Department are currently en route to West Virginia and will transport her back to Winchester to reunite with her husband, the Winchester Police Department said.

Hemlepp suffers from dementia, and was believed to be in danger, police said. She was reported missing on Wednesday. She and her husband were traveling from Pennsylvania to South Carolina Tuesday. Her husband told police that he lost track of his wife, who was driving a separate car, on Old Dominion Road in Fairfax around 12:30 p.m.

Around midnight on Wednesday, contact was made with Catherine Hemlepp by phone. She stated that she was staying at the Shenandoah Motel in Winchester, Va.; however this hotel does not exist in Winchester City for Frederick County, Va., police said. Hotels in the city of Winchester and Frederick County were checked with negative contact, and her cellphone was cut off.

Officers with the Winchester Police Department worked around the clock to locate Mrs. Hemlepp. They worked with law enforcement agencies in multiple states to check rest areas, parking lots and hotels. Officers were able to locate her after confirming a purchase had been made with her credit card in Bridgeport, W.Va.

PHOTO of Catherine Hemlepp courtesy of Virginia State Police