A pair of reports tell the heart-wrenching stories of elderly parents in precarious situations with children far away.
A son in Ohio received a call this past Monday from law enforcement regarding a visit paid to the home of his 94-year-old mother in the Village of Mira Mesa. She had called Lady Lake police two days earlier and reported her wallet was missing from her home. She said she suspected a neighbor, with whom she had entrusted with a key to her home.
The neighbors told police a different story. They said they all look out for the woman. They said she frequently misplaces things and then blames others when she notices then “missing.”
The son told police that the neighbor his mother suspected of stealing her wallet is a trusted friend and actually paid by the son to take his mother grocery shopping and help with tasks around her house.
The son also said he double checked his mother’s bank account and there were no unusual transactions. He added that his mother had contacted a car dealership and was shopping for a car, despite the fact her driver’s license was “terminated” in 2016. He said his mother had been evaluated in June and was determined by the courts to be able to physically care for herself. The court gave the woman the choice of where she wanted to live and she chose her home in The Villages.
The following day, the Department of Children and Families was called to the home of a 78-year-old woman in the 55+ community of Water Oak in Lady Lake. She was covered in her own feces from the waist down. Her home had fecal matter on the floor. There were dishes piled up in the sink and the home was in disarray, according to an incident report.
Another woman had visited the home to check up on the Water Oaker and mow her yard. She contacted law enforcement.
Contact was made with the woman’s son in Michigan. He said he was dealing with his father’s hospitalization in Michigan but said he would head south to help his mother “as soon as he could.”
The woman was transported by ambulance to UF Health The Villages Hospital.
