Body of 78-year-old Denise Gloster discovered
More than a day after she disappeared from her Ancaster home, Denise Gloster has been found dead.
The 78-year-old, who had early-onset dementia, went missing from her home in the area of Mineral Springs and Slote roads Halloween night. An avid walker, she was known to walk long distances.
Her disappearance sparked a massive effort by police, her family and members of the community, who were searching the rural area around her home until the tragic discovery Tuesday afternoon.
Thank you to everyone who shared the post and volunteered their time to find her," Hamilton police said in a statement posted on Twitter. Our thoughts are with her family at this difficult time."
The family has requested privacy, police added.
The extensive police operation included searches of rough terrain and trails using drones, ATVs, the ACTION and canine units, and Argos (off-road vehicles that operate on land and water).
The search did not stop overnight," said Hamilton police Const. Krista-Lee Ernst. By 7 a.m. Tuesday police deployed their public order unit to conduct a grid search.
A command centre was set up at Copetown Community Centre. Residents were asked to check their properties in Hamilton and on the outskirts of Brantford and Waterloo Region.
Police also asked anyone hunting in the area to stand down, due to the high number of volunteers and search team members in the area. Police were searching a vast area around Dundas Valley, Highway 52, Governors Road and Power Line Road.
Gloster had been reported missing before. In late June, she was found roughly 17 kilometres from her home by a homeowner in the hamlet of Troy, and about six hours after being reported missing.
After that, her family gave her an Apple watch, which she charged every night and always wore, so family could find her if it were to ever happen again. But she wasn't wearing the watch when she left her home overnight on Oct. 31.
When my dad woke up at seven in the morning, she wasn't there," Gloster's daughter, Kyra Paterson, told The Spectator Monday after her mother went missing for the second time. She didn't take the watch."
After the tragic discovery Paterson posted a message on Twitter thanking those who helped.
A sad ending for my mom," she said. Thank you to everyone who helped in the search. She will be greatly missed."
Nicole O'Reilly is a Hamilton-based reporter covering crime and justice for The Spectator. Reach her via email: noreilly@thespec.com