By Joe Johnson
An elderly Athens woman with dementia who was report missing Saturday morning safely returned to her home on South Ridge Drive several hours later.
Athens-Clarke County police had publicly issued a plea for help in locating 89-year-old Alberta Ward Smith and released a photograph of her.
The woman was reported missing after she was last seen walking away from her home at about 9:30 a.m., and police cancelled a lookout for her after she returned home at about 1 p.m.
"She solicited rides from different people to go to different locations in Athens," police Capt. Christopher Nichols said. "We are pleased that she returned home safely."