Woman’s body found near her nursing home

CAPE ELIZABETH – The search for a 77-year-old woman who disappeared from a nursing home ended Friday when her body was found in a shallow brook nearby.

Shirley Sayre, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, apparently walked out the front door of the Viking Crescent House nursing home, crossed the street and then fell down an embankment into some water, the Maine Warden Service said.

“It was not a lot of water, it was just a culvert,” said Mark Latti, a spokesman for the Warden Service.

Latti said Sayre apparently drowned, but the state medical examiner’s office will determine the cause of death.

Three game wardens found Sayre’s body at 9:15 a.m., about 10 hours after she left the nursing home.

“Apparently she was able to get out of a secure facility. We don’t know how,” Fire Chief Philip McGouldrick said.

The state Department of Human Services, which was looking into the incident, said it had no problems with Viking in the past. The nursing home said it was conducting its own investigation before making any comment.

Sixty searchers, including wardens, Cape Elizabeth police and firefighters, search and rescue personnel, and volunteers, took part in the search, knocking on doors and combing through a nearby marsh.

Dogs and a state plane also participated.