Stranger Spots Lost, Scared Woman, Then She Realizes It’s the​ Same Person on her App!

New York City can be a tough place, and if you have a mental illness, such as dementia and you wander off, it can be extremely dangerous given the hustle and bustle of traffic and subways. So, when Cindy Marmolejos was waiting in the car as her husband ran into the corner store and spotted a woman who looked lost and scared, she knew she had to help.

It was rush hour and people were returning home from work. While there was a lot of movement the distressed woman stood out from the crowd. She was standing alone outside wearing a long, hooded winter coat. Then she began “wandering aimlessly, pacing back and forth with a very anxious and frightened expression.”

That’s when Marmolejos scrolled through the alerts on her phone’s Citizen app, a useful app that tracks local crimes in the area. Then coincidentally an alert popped up indicating that for seven hours, local authorities had been searching the area for a “60-something woman with dementia.”

Marmolejos was watching her closely to ensure the woman’s safety but was thrown off a little because the app said she had black sneakers on when hers were white. Yet, she didn’t falter and followed her instinct. Thank God she did, because she wasn’t wrong. As soon as her husband returned to the car, Marmolejos said, “Oh my God, get the police.” Thanks to this good Samaritan, the lost woman safely returned to her residence.