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Article published Jul 1, 2009 Missing woman found unhurt behind her Louisville house
By Iva Butler of The Daily Time Staff
After wandering away from home overnight, an elderly Louisville woman was found at about 10:45 a.m. Tuesday by searchers.
Miriam Hansard, 86, Peaceful Cove Road, Louisville, was located by the Knox County Sheriff's Office Air Watch about 150 yards from her home in a field of high grass and weeds, according to a release from Blount County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Marian O'Briant.
Blount deputies were dispatched to Hansard's home shortly before 6 a.m. to the call of a missing person. Hansard's caregiver, who lives at her residence, told deputies that he had last seen her at home around 3 a.m.A reverse 911 was sent out to surrounding residences, and deputies began searching the area, according to the release from Blount Sheriff James Berrong.
After being found, Hansard told emergency services workers that she set out for a walk sometime after dark Monday, but she was not sure what time she left the residence.
"I knew you guys would find me," Blount County Fire Chief Doug McClanahan said she told rescuers. "She seemed to be in good health and was not complaining about anything."
As a precaution, Hansard was taken by Rural/Metro Ambulance to University of Tennessee Medical Center, where she is listed in stable condition.
Divers with the Blount Special Operations Response Team (BSORT) were also deployed to search the shore near Hansard's home.
Blount County Fire Department sent its dive team and land search team and a boat with lifesavers and sonar in the water.
McClanahan said he had 12 people on the scene or enroute when the woman was found.
The land and air search was centered in the Peaceful Cove area off Pink Hatcher Lane and Rankin Ferry Loop.