Gwinnett officer uses creative tactics to find lost woman’s family

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Gwinnett County police are crediting persistence and teamwork after an officer spent nearly an hour working to reunite a lost elderly woman with her family earlier this fall.

What we know:

Officer Voss with the department’s Behavioral Health unit was dispatched on September 12 after a concerned citizen reported finding an older woman wandering in a neighborhood. The caller told police he had tried driving her around to locate her home, but she was unable to communicate where she lived.

Police said the woman did not speak English, prompting Voss to use several translation tools to gather even the smallest pieces of identifying information. With no ID and few details to work with, Voss searched police records, ran through every option available and continued asking questions in different ways.

Video released by police shows Voss trying to communicate with the woman and asking simple questions such as, "Do you have your ID? Do you know your address? Do you know when your daughter's birthday is?" At one point, Voss attempted to drive the woman around the area, asking, "Do you think if I turn the car, can you show me the way home?"

With no breakthrough, Voss took her to Gwinnett Fire Station 18, so firefighters could check her medically, provide water and see if their system had information that might help. The officer also tried to determine whether the woman belonged to a church or temple and asked for the names of her other children, according to police.

After continued efforts, Voss eventually gathered enough details to pass along to the department’s Situational Awareness and Crime Response Center. Analysts were able to use that information to locate an address and identify her family.

When Voss arrived at the home, the woman’s relatives told her they had only just realized she was missing. They believed she was still visiting a friend. In the video, one family member can be heard telling the officer, "She go to her friend, how to talk with her friend. They chit-chat. She said she go with her, that's why I thought she still over there."

The woman was safely reunited with her family, and police highlighted the case as an example of creative problem-solving and interagency cooperation.

The backstory:

Gwinnett County Police launched its Behavioral Health Unit as part of a broader effort to improve responses to mental health crises across the county. 

The program pairs officers with licensed mental health professionals and focuses on diverting people in crisis away from jail and toward treatment. 

The department expanded the unit in 2022, citing rising call volumes and the success of previous co-response teams. 

Officials said the goal is to reduce use-of-force encounters, improve outcomes for residents experiencing behavioral health emergencies and strengthen the department’s ability to connect people with long-term support services.