Vulnerable adult found safe after going missing in Hastings

January 6, 2012 at 6:48AM
Jonelle Carolyn Salemi
Jonelle Carolyn Salemi (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

A vulnerable woman who had been missing since Tuesday has been found safe, Hastings police said Thursday morning.

Jonelle Carolyn Salemi, 36, had been last seen about 10:30 a.m. at the Hastings Wal-Mart. She apparently walked away from the store after being separated from caregivers, police said.

Salemi apparently had hitched a ride with a bystander to the home of a friend who lived near her old home, said Hastings Police Chief Paul Schnell. She was walking back home late Wednesday when police received a call from someone who had seen media reports on the case. An officer found her trying to walk home. She was unharmed, he said.

Salemi suffers from an unspecificed mental illness, and because of a lack of medication, police were worried that she may become confused and disoriented.

PAT PHEIFER

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