Missing woman found
BUTLER TWP — The search for a missing mentally challenged woman had a happy ending Wednesday night when she turned up hours later and miles away at Butler Memorial Hospital.
“She was safe and sound,” said Capt. Joe LaDue of the Butler Township Volunteer Fire District 3, referring to 27-year-old Chelsea Huegel. “It was absolutely a positive ending.”
Chelsea, who lives with her parents on David Drive, was in the backyard of her home between 6 and 6:30 p.m. when she wandered away.
Her family searched for but could not find Chelsea. They notified 911 shortly before 7:30 p.m.
Township police were alerted. A short time later, all three township fire departments were called in to help find the woman.
Police and firefighters were already familiar with the Huegel family since on previous occasions, possibly a half dozen over a 10-year span, they've been called out to look for her.
“She's had a tendency to wander off in the past,” LaDue said. He guessed the last time was a few years ago when she went missing for just a couple hours. She turned up in the back yard of a home nearby.
A township police command post was set up on South Duffy Road not far from the Huegel home. Between 30 and 40 searchers, primarily firefighters, gathered there and quickly fanned out.
Organizers mapped out a search area that entailed road sweeps that stretched from Route 422 at Moraine Pointe Plaza all the way to the city line.
“Her parents weren't sure where she went,” LaDue said. “But we were told that she liked to be near water.”
A search of ponds and creeks near the family's home was an immediate priority. Authorities also notified stores at the Butler Commons shopping plaza on North Duffy Road to be on the lookout for Chelsea.
Eventually, officials called an Allegheny County rescue team and requested trained search dogs. But, it turned out, the canines were never needed.
Shortly before 10 p.m., authorities got the news they were hoping for. Chelsea was found safely at Butler Memorial Hospital — some four miles from her home.“She called her parents from the hospital saying she had been admitted,” said Butler Township police Chief John Hays.A police officer was at the Huegel home when she called, and he immediately drove to the hospital. Chelsea's parents also drove there to reunite with their daughter.An examination found she was uninjured and in no distress She also informed authorities how she got there.“She advised that she knocked on someone's door and asked for a ride to the hospital,” Hays said. A man who answered the knock, drove her to BMH.“He dropped her off,” Hays said of the unknown man. “He didn't stay around.”Police spoke to Chelsea but they did not immediately know where the man lived.Firefighters, meanwhile, soon got word that Chelsea was found and fit. Back at the command post, there were smiles all around.Said LaDue: “Happy endings are always nice.”
