Members of Coquitlam Search and Rescue (SAR) helped two neighbouring communities in their searches for missing elderly residents over the long weekend.

"These are particularly difficult searches," said Al Hurley, president and search manager for Coquitlam SAR, in a news release.

"They involve elderly individuals who are more susceptible to the weather conditions. They usually happen within an urban environment, bringing in a number of factors we have to consider such as buses and taxis. The subjects themselves can cover a surprising distance, leaving us with a potentially huge search area which grows with each passing hour."

The first call came in on Saturday morning from Surrey Search and Rescue, which already had searchers out all night looking for a woman suffering from Alzheimer's who had wandered away from her home.

Coquitlam SAR sent out nine people to help search, and the woman was found in the early afternoon several kilometres from where she had started.

The second call came in Monday afternoon from the Burnaby RCMP, who had been searching the Deer Lake area for an 82-year-old woman with Alzheimer's. The woman had headed out for a walk around Deer Lake around 9 a.m. and didn't return home.

Coquitlam SAR's Zodiac boat was used to search the shoreline and the lake itself, while ground teams searched the shore and trails. A total of 23 Coquitlam searchers helped out. A police helicopter also searched from the air.

The woman was also eventually found several kilometres away from where she had started - walking along Highway 1 near the First Avenue exit. Both missing people were found in excellent condition by Good Samaritans who saw someone in distress and either stopped to help or called 911.

"Our best tool in situations like this [are] media and the public," Hurley said. "The sooner we get the word out to the media, the sooner the public is aware about it, and the more eyes we have helping us look. In this case, the public helped us bring this search to a happy conclusion."