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Officers: Brevard woman reported missing found in neighboring home

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Investigators said Minnie Thomas, 61, who was reported missing Thursday morning, was found inside a neighboring home Friday afternoon.

Thomas was dehydrated and passed out when they found her in the home on Garden Road in Rockledge, investigators said.

The mother of seven had been missing for 24 hours before Thomas' husband asked an officer to look through the house again, and that's when they found Thomas lying on the floor.

Family members were elated, jumping and doing flips when they learned that Thomas had been found.

"She's responding and hopefully by the grace of God she's OK. So I'm happy," said Thomas' youngest daughter.

Officers said when Thomas' husband arrived to pick her up for a doctor's appointment on Thursday, she was not there.

"It's not like her to just walk off and not tell anybody or anybody knows where she's at. That's the part we are confused about and trying to wrap our heads about because that's not her," said Lawanda Mike, a relative of Thomas.

Thomas had started to have memory problems, but family members said leaving the house without saying anything was still out of the ordinary.

Her family has had to deal with a missing family member before, but the outcome was not a good one in that case.

WFTV learned that five years ago, Thomas' son vanished from his home north of Cocoa.

Thomas' 23-year-old son, Nehemiah Thomas Jr., disappeared from his Railroad Avenue home in November of 2007. Investigators said he had a mental disability and was never found.

Thomas was taken to the hospital for observation, and officers said she will be OK.

Police said it looked like the back door was propped open.