Friends and family said goodbye to Eastchester's Catherine Cotter yesterday. Cotter's funeral mass was held at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Yonkers. Cotter, who suffered from dementia, went missing on May 28. Her body was found about a mile from her Garth Road home in the Bronx River.
During the search last week, Cotter’s daughter-in-law had asked people in Scarsdale to be on the lookout for her mother-in-law because the 88-year-old often shopped at CVS and DeCicco’s in the Village.
Police had also been searching near the area of the Bronx River Parkway by Leewood Drive, in addition to all of Harlem Line Metro-North stations. Authorities used choppers, marine unites, ATVs and bloodhounds in the search for the 88-year-old. Investigators believe that the high water level of the Bronx River may have hidden her body during the initial search. When the floodwaters left, police were finally able to locate her body.
Cotter lived at her Garth Road apartment with her son, John. She had three sons, nine grandchildren and a daughter.
Cotter's death is spurring Democratic Westchester County lawmakers to push for the additional promotion of the Lifesaver program. The Lifesaver program fits seniors with electronic wrist bracelets. So if someone wearing the bracelets gets lost, authorities can simply track the bracelet's radio signal to their location.
“These tragedies are preventable, and we have the tools and technology to keep our seniors safe,” says Democratic Legislator Alfreda Williams, chair of the BOL Community Services Committee. “But I’m afraid that not enough of our county residents know about the availability and usefulness of Project Lifesaver. It’s time to increase the county’s efforts to promote this vital service—before another tragic incident as such occurs.”
Democratic lawmakers say that only 58 people here in Westchester are signed up for the Project Lifesaver program at this time.
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