DAPHNE, Ala. — A Daphne Police Department search team Wednesday found a senior citizen from Lake Forest 12 hours after her disappearance.

Helen Hood, 79, who has dementia, had been reported missing at 5 a.m. on Wednesday.

“Rescuers located her at 5:10 p.m. Wednesday,” Daphne Police Capt. Daniel Bell said. “Ms. Hood is now home from the hospital. She’s in good condition and good spirits.”

She wandered nine-tenths of a mile from her home and was found lying on the ground about 60 feet inside a wooded area, Bell said.

Though Hood was discovered 12 hours after her disappearance, the search could have been expedited, Bell said.

“If she had been a member of Project Lifesaver, we’d have found her in minutes instead of hours,” he said.

Project Lifesaver members wear a transmitter wristband that can quickly lead authorities to their exact location. People with alzheimer’s, dementia and similar illnesses, who live at a personal residence, are eligible for membership, according to the Daphne Police Department’s Web site.

“We now have 26 members in Baldwin County,” Tess Howell, Mercy Medical Center senior living consultant, said.

Hood’s family was unaware of Project Lifesaver before the incident.

Now, “Hood is now a member with her own transmitter wristband,” Bell said.