Border Guards Find Lost Elderly Mushroom Picker and Return Her to Family

Border guards in Lithuania’s Šalčininkai district found an 80-year-old woman from Vilnius after she went mushroom picking and failed to return. She had traveled to a homestead in Šetylos village, about three kilometers from the Belarusian border.

Concerned relatives contacted emergency services by calling 112. Officers from the Gintaras Žagunis border station, part of the Varėna Border Guard Unit, began searching the surrounding forests using video surveillance systems installed along the border.

They soon spotted a person moving through the forest on their monitors. When officers reached the precise location identified by the surveillance system, they confirmed that the person was the missing woman. Although she had spent considerable time in the forest, she did not require medical care. Officers drove her back safely and handed her over to her relatives.

The State Border Guard Service urged residents to take extra care during the berry- and mushroom-picking season, especially in wooded areas near the border. It advised people to carry a fully charged mobile phone, avoid going deep into unfamiliar forests, remember landmarks, carry identification and tell relatives where they plan to go and when they expect to return.

Border guards said they regularly receive requests to find people who leave for the forest and do not come back. Their search resources include surveillance systems, mobile patrols, service dogs and VSAT helicopters.