Dementia patient found dead in pond after going missing from fair in Indiana, police say

A woman with dementia, who had gone missing while attending a fair in Indiana, was found dead in a pond, local authorities said Tuesday.

Vickey Kirkwood, 55, was attending the Lake County Fair in Crown Point Tuesday when she went missing, the Crown Point Police Department said in a post on Facebook. She was last seen leaving the fair around 1:10 p.m. wearing purple and red pants and a black Chicago Bulls hoodie, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Department.

Efforts were made to locate the missing woman, and authorities also requested the public for assistance in looking for her. She was later found dead in a residential pond in west Crown Point, police said. Her body was recovered by the police, and the fire department dive team recovered the body from the pond, according to ABC News 7.

The woman, who was a dementia patient, was said to be with her mother at the fair when she went missing, the sheriff's office said.

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Autopsy underway

The cause and manner of death has not been identified, and ABC 7, quoting officials, reported the Lake County Forensic Science Center will conduct an autopsy on Thursday to determine it.

The Lake County Sheriff's Department and Crown Point Police Department did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for an update on the incident.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.