By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
Victoria Hurley-SchubertStaff Writer
An 84-year-old Princeton Borough woman who wandered from her home on Friday night was located an reunited with her family within two hours, thanks to a GPS tracking program called Project Lifesaver run by the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office.
Borough police received a call about 10:45 p.m. from the woman’s granddaughter who said her grandmother, who was last seen inside the house at approximately 8:30 p.m., was missing.
”We followed immediate leads and information very quickly and when those didn’t pan out, we contacted the sheriff’s office,” said Capt. Nicholas Sutter of the borough police. “We were aware the victim had been recently enrolled in the Project Lifesaver program and from there we worked hand-in-hand with the sheriff’s department and Princeton Township Police as we tracked the signal from her GPS device.”
Mercer County detectives Edward Dinatale and Jason Salvatore located the women approximately two miles from her home in a wooded area off of Lambert Drive, several hundred feet from the roadway, said the sheriff’s office.
Law enforcement and the fire department located the woman within two hours of the initial notification she was missing, said Capt. Sutter.
”She was in shrubbery and a wooded area in the backyard of a residence,” he said.
Although her condition appeared to be good and unhurt, as a precaution Princeton First Aid and Rescue was summoned to the scene and took her to Princeton Medical Center for evaluation and she was later released.
Project Lifesaver is a free program that issues a bracelet to adults or children with illnesses that cause wandering.
”If the person does end up wandering, the sheriff’s office will go to the residence and start a search with antennas that search for the signal,” said William Osterman, public information officer with the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office. “That’s what happened with this case. The program is phenomenal, and the sheriff is proud they were able to find her quickly. The program is a God-send for the families that have their loved ones enrolled in it.”
The signal emitted from the GPS bracelet has a one-mile range. Sheriff’s officers use a grid search to locate a signal.
”When they pick up a signal, they all head to that area and try and center in on the signal,” he said. “Once they got a strong enough signal, they had to exit their cars, and the equipment takes two hands to operate, so the police shined their spotlights.”
Local police have a list of all registered residents.
”It’s important that family members pass that information onto the officer that responds to the scene to facilitate the process quickly,” said Capt. Sutter. “We’re very thankful to our law enforcement partners in the sheriff’s department and Princeton Township and encourage people who may benefit from this program to contact our department or the sheriff’s department for enrollment information.”
There are about 90 enrollees in Mercer County; sheriff’s officials have had between 10 to 15 calls for Project Lifesaver in the past 12 months, said Mr. Osterman.
”One of the greatest services we at the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office provide is Project Lifesaver. This free program continues to show how invaluable it is to households with family members suffering from age-related diseases, and other conditions that cause unexpected wandering,” said Mercer County Acting Sheriff Jack Kemler.

