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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Upper West Side Woman Suffering From Dementia Goes Missing

By Ben Fractenberg | January 17, 2017 6:27pm
 Upper West Sider Debreh Gilgret, 63, who suffers from dementia, went missing from a Rite Aid on Broadway near 110th Street on Jan. 14, police said.
Upper West Sider Debreh Gilgret, 63, who suffers from dementia, went missing from a Rite Aid on Broadway near 110th Street on Jan. 14, police said.
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NYPD

MANHATTAN — An Upper West Side woman suffering from dementia went missing while her husband was picking up her medication at a local pharmacy.

Debreh Gilbert, 63, was inside a Rite Aid on Broadway near 110th Street Saturday at about 4:55 p.m. when she wandered off, her husband, Scott Kegelman, told DNAinfo.

Kegelman said it took about two minutes to get her medication, but that he “spun around and she was gone.”

The frantic husband then “ran like a maniac through the store” and drove around the neighborhood looking for his wife.

Kegelman finally called the police, who released her photo to the public in the hopes of finding her.

Gilbert, who stands 5-foot-3 and weighs 130 pounds, was wearing a dark-red hat and a black jacket with a Harley Davidson motorcycle emblazoned on the back when she went missing, police and her husband said.

Kegelman added that Gilbert has now been off her medication for several days and may appear agitated.

He recommended that anyone who sees her should call 911 and try to engage her in a calm manner until help arrives.

“Stay in contact as long as possible so the cops can then pick her up," he said.

Kegelman described Gilbert as a dynamic “firebrand” who worked for SEIU 1199 to help settle labor disputes in hospitals and improve patient satisfaction.

She started to show symptoms of dementia about six years ago and was diagnosed four years ago, he added.

Anyone who sees her is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 800-577-TIPS or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).