Panic as elderly couple flee care home after 10-word vow to daughter

An elderly couple who fled their care home just days after moving in have been found safe. Colin, 89, and Claudette Geraghty, 83, fled Ryman Nellie Melba Retirement Village in south-east Melbourne, Australia at about 11.15 am on Saturday.

The couple, who have been together for 65 years, suffer from a range of health conditions, adding to the concerns of family members and carers for the 32 hours that they were missing. Colin has Alzheimer’s while Claudette suffers from vascular dementia and is prone to seizures. According to their daughter Linda McKelvie, who shared a touching note left for her by her father, the couple did not like being in the home.

It read: “Don’t worry, thank you for your help, I’ll make sure I look after her.”

Linda later left a message that urged them to return to the care home.

She said: “Please come home mum and dad, we are all so worried about you. Even the grandkids. We are all so worried about you.”

The pair then visited the Glenn Shopping Centre and bought their medication before leaving around midday in their white 2015 Mazda 2.

The alarm was raised by their neighbour Sharon Jeikishore who alerted staff when she tried to check in on them in the afternoon and got no answer.

Police were alerted earlier last week after the couple first attempted to flee the care home. MailOnline reported Linda said: “I think because they were recently in respite care it was such a change for them.

“They didn’t really like being in care and I think they just wanted to be home together. Dad thinks he can help her … they feel like all their choices are being taken away.”

The couple were missing for about 32 hours before they were located in Maryborough north-west of Melbourne, on Sunday night. Linda said she believed they were unhappy at the facility after they moved into the care home last Tuesday.

It was not their first escape attempt that week. Police had been called just days earlier after the Geraghtys also tried to flee.

They had been moved to the facility only the previous Tuesday.

Linda added: “They didn’t really like being in care and I think they just wanted to be home together.

“Dad thinks he can help her … they feel like all their choices are being taken away.”