San Diego community searching for at-risk 71-year-old missing for nearly 2 weeks

The community is stepping in to find an elderly San Diego woman suffering from dementia and diabetes who has been missing for nearly two weeks.

Vivian Crowder, 71, disappeared on Oct. 29. She walked away from Natura Spa on La Mesa Boulevard in La Mesa while her relative was getting a treatment.

Surveillance cameras at Pink Rose Cafe, a nearby business, captured her passing by.

La Mesa detectives told NBC 7 on Friday that they confirmed her location later that day, about a mile-and-a-half away, walking east on Grossmont Boulevard under the 125 overpass.

Crowder's family has been posting missing flyers all over San Diego.

Her nephew, Kenneth, has been searching for his aunt, who he calls "Vivi," as her large family calls her.

"She has dementia, so she's confused," Kenneth told NBC 7. "She's not from this area, so we are all very concerned."

Crowder's dementia diagnosis came about a year-and-a-half ago. She also suffers from diabetes and hasn't had access to her medication.

Kenneth said his aunt lives in a senior living apartment in Southeast San Diego with a family member.

"She forgets things, and she doesn't know where she is. She does remember family members and things of that nature," he said.

The family is worried she used public transportation and got lost.

La Mesa police and now the RAD Movement — a nonprofit coordinated search-and-rescue volunteer group — are searching everywhere for the 71-year-old.

"Other places we need to be on the lookout for her are Logan Heights, downtown San Diego and San Ysidro," Amy Reichert with the RAD Movement said.

Kenneth said he and his family have checked hospitals and shelters but have not had any luck.

"This whole experience is heartbreaking," he said. "It's very stressful for everyone in the family because Vivi is a pillar of our family. She's the oldest of her siblings. She took care of all of them. She took care of all her nieces and nephews like myself."