Elizabeth police help reunite missing woman with family

By CHRISTINE HAINES
chaines@yourmvi.com
Elizabeth borough police Wednesday were able to reunite a family from York County after an elderly member wandered off.
The police department was notified early Wednesday that a woman from York had been reported missing and that she may be in their area.
“When the Pennsylvania State Police pinged her phone, it pinged that it was in the Elizabeth area,” said Chief William Sombo.
The woman, Janet Finnegan, 82, had struck one of the parking bump outs in Elizabeth and had two flat tires when police found her in the early morning hours Wednesday. Sombo said Officer Patrick Schmidt found the woman and her disabled vehicle about an hour after getting the notification she was somewhere in the Elizabeth area.
Finnegan was taken to the police station and her family was contacted. Arrangements were made for two officers to take Finnegan to the Sideling Hill rest stop on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to meet her family Wednesday afternoon, reuniting the family for the holiday. Sombo said police work isn’t always about enforcing laws and catching criminals.
“A police officer is really a problem solver,” Sombo said.
Sombo said officers are doing things that go unseen nearly every day, whether it is changing a furnace filter for an elderly resident or getting a bat out of someone’s house.
“It’s just all about doing the right thing for people, showing people what the police are really about,” Sombo said.