Update] Missing Burbank woman found in Las Vegas

A missing 80-year-old Burbank woman was found Saturday afternoon at a Las Vegas casino.

[Updated 4:39 p.m.] Geraldine Sullivan, who was originally reported missing by Burbank police Saturday morning, was found by Las Vegas Police Department authorities at Harrah’s Casino at about 3:30 p.m.

Originally Burbank police reported she had dementia, but it’s unclear whether she actually suffers from the medical syndrome that often leads to memory problems.

“She’s functioning pretty darn good,” said Burbank Police Sgt. Doug Brown, adding that sometimes information reported to police at the beginning of an investigation can be faulty. Police considered Sullivan a “critical missing adult” when they sent out a statement Saturday morning.

Sullivan was last contacted by phone at her Burbank home on Wednesday. She was expected to drive to a Hampton Inn in Oxnard for a class reunion on Thursday, but she never checked in to the hotel. Burbank police were told about her absence on Friday.

Brown said Sullivan got lost on her way to the reunion and decided to drive back to Burbank. Sullivan then booked a flight to Las Vegas from Bob Hope Airport.

“She didn’t want to waste a perfectly good weekend,” Brown said.

After talking to neighbors and others close to Sullivan, police discovered that she flew to Las Vegas. Burbank officials tapped their counterparts there to look for the woman.

When Las Vegas police found her, “she was able to care for her own safety,” Brown said.

Police left Sullivan on her own at the casino, he said.

-- Brittany Levine, Times Community News

Follow Brittany Levine on Google+ and on Twitter: @brittanylevine.