Bloomington woman who vanished on way to Christmas gathering found safe

Mattoon police reported Wednesday afternoon they had found a missing Bloomington woman who had disappeared on the way to a family Christmas gathering.

Carmon Edwards, 53, had been missing since Monday morning.

“Regarding the missing person posting, Mrs. Edwards has been located and she is safe,” the department posted on Facebook. “Thanks to everyone who responded and assisted us in helping Mrs. Edwards and her family.”

On Wednesday morning, police found Edwards’ car in the middle of Mattoon.

She had been driving a light gold 2004 Mitsubishi Galant, which was spotted at about 7 a.m. Wednesday along a residential street in the middle of Mattoon, according to Bloomington Detective Jeff Engle.

The car showed no signs of foul play, and police do not suspect foul play was involved in Edwards’ disappearance. Engles said Edwards suffers from “a recent cognitive decline.” She has no known friends or relatives in Mattoon.

Engle said during Wednesday’s search for Edwards, they were assuming she was on foot somewhere or “hopefully at somebody’s house or somebody picked her up.”

Police later said that “a good Samaritan” brought Edwards to the Illinois State Police District 10 headquarters in Pesotum after finding her at a Hardee’s restaurant in Mattoon. She appears to be in good health, Bloomington police told the Journal Gazette.

Engle said the Mattoon police and fire departments and Illinois State Police assisted in the search for Edwards, using an air unit and going door-to-door to locate Edwards.

This story was originally published December 27, 2017 at 11:02 AM with the headline "Bloomington woman who vanished on way to Christmas gathering found safe."