A 79-year-old woman who triggered a Police Search and Rescue operation when she went missing from Tauranga Hospital last night has been found in her Paengaroa home - with no one knowing how she got there.

The woman suffers from dementia and was visiting her husband in Tauranga Hospital when she wandered off on Sunday evening.

A 79-year-old who went missing from Tauranga Hospital on Sunday evening has been found at home in Paengaroa.

Western Bay of Plenty Search and Rescue Area coordinator, sergeant Craig Madden says a Police Search and Rescue and Lane Search and Rescue operations were deployed when a relative raised the alarm at 6pm.

'Hospital CCTV recorded the female leaving the hospital at 4pm.

'During our enquires we established the woman had made her way back home in Paengaroa, Te Puke, but we have been unable to establish how she got there,” says Craig.

'Due to her illness the female was unable to fill in the gaps for us.

'It is imperative police are informed of this type of missing person as soon as possible. The longer it takes to call us, the further the missing person could be, increasing our search area excessively.”

Tauranga Land Search and Rescue group has recently purchased a tracking system called Wanda Trak - a pendant worn by dementia and autistic sufferers to assist in locating them if the wander off and are unable to orientate themselves.

The system consists of radio tracking beacons and a directional tracking unit. The beacons work by emitting a signal, which is picked up by the tracking unit. Each individual has their own unique frequency.

Statistics for the Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty area show an increasing number of ageing residents suffering from dementia related illnesses.

'These 'lost parties' are high risk due to their disorientation and inability to recognise people or places and their confusion and difficulty in understanding what is said to them,” says Craig.

When a person with a pendant is reported missing to Police, members of Tauranga Search and Rescue, along with the Tauranga Police SAR team, activate the tracking unit to receive the signal from the lost person's beacon.

Tauranga Search and Rescue's Nic Hume says this project is possible thanks to the help of Tauranga Rotary Club and the Fonterra Group who gave generous financial contributions.