Missing Long Island woman, 79, found safe in Maryland after multistate search

A 79-year-old Orient woman with dementia who had gone missing has been found — more than 300 miles away in Maryland — after she drove for 24 hours across several states, police said.

Judith Hudson was reported missing on Saturday at 2:15 p.m. after her twin sister, Jane Hudson, told police she was not at her Orient home, the Southold Town Police Department said in a news release.

Her sister believed she was on her way to Stony Brook University Hospital, but never arrived, Southold Police Chief Steven Grattan said in an interview.

Through license plate recognition police learned Judith Hudson had driven from her home around 10:15 a.m. Saturday. Her car was spotted in New Jersey around 4:30 p.m.

Hudson’s phone was not powered on at the time, but she had her partner’s Apple watch, which can track location, with her, police said.

Grattan said Jane Hudson, who had come to visit her sister from South Carolina, tracked the location of the watch on her computer. Since they did not have Hudson's Apple login information, they received five-to-eight minute delayed notifications of her location, allowing her to be "one step ahead" of police.

"That's why we were having such a difficult time locating her," Grattan said. "The other agencies were sending cars [to her location], but she was gone by the time they got there."

Hudson eventually crossed back to New York and drove around Brooklyn for several hours — stopping once to buy gas — before driving south to Montgomery County in Maryland.

Maryland State Police, Montgomery County police and other units then flooded the area and found Hudson near Silver Spring on Sunday.

She was taken to a hospital for evaluation and reunited with her sister. Grattan said Hudson has a valid driver's license, which the Department of Motor Vehicles will review.