Schenectady

A woman who was reported missing a week ago has been found, Schenectady police said.

Wilma Trotter, 60, was located in the village of Scotia just after 9 a.m. on Friday in thick vegetation on the side of a hill along the Mohawk River near Schonowee and Washington avenues, said Lt. Mark McCracken. She was treated at the scene by members of Scotia Fire Department and taken to Ellis Hospital for evaluation.

McCracken said Trotter, who reportedly has dementia, told police that she had gone into the area for "solitude and rest," but became weak. She made a shelter from brush and did not leave it — or eat or drink, she told police — for the past week.

Trotter went missing on Friday, April 11, after she was dropped off at 5:15 a.m. by a taxi outside a residence on Washington Avenue in Scotia.

The Schenectady Police Department's Detective Division, with the assistance of forest rangers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, found Trotter. The work of Detectives Eric Peters — whom Trotter called her "cutie pie hero" — and Paul Steele led to Trotter's discovery, McCracken said.