A Huntington Park, Calif., woman was awarded $25,000 for helping find a missing Los Angeles Jewish woman, who suffers from dementia.
Maggie Castellanos reportedly saw Jeanne Rus Litvin on April 17 and noticed that the elderly woman seemed disoriented outside her home.
Security footage showed Litvin. who had been missing since April 14, picking up leaves near the roadway. Castellanos said she approached the woman after sensing something was wrong.
Hatzolah of Los Angeles said that Litvin, who suffers from primary progressive aphasia, a form of dementia affecting communication, had wandered from her Los Angeles home. Castellanos prevented her from walking into traffic and stayed with her until polcie and fire fighters arrived, according to Hatzolah.
Litvin was brought to a hospital, where a staffer recognized her after seeing a Facebook post about the missing woman.
“This recognition led to the confirmation of her identity and her safe recovery,” Hatzolah stated.
The Jewish group and Los Angeles City Council member Katy Yaroslavsky gave Castellanos the reward.
Castellanos “without any knowledge of a reward, simply saw someone in need and stepped in to help,” Hatzolah stated.
The Los Angeles Police Department shared a “critical” missing person report for a “78-year-old female” on April 15.
“The family and friends of Jeanne Litvin, along with the Los Angeles Police Department, are asking for the public’s help in finding her,” the LAPD stated.
“On April 14, 2026, around 07:25 a.m., 78-year-old Jeanne Litvin was last seen in the area of the 5800 block of W 3rd Street in Los Angeles,” it said. “She has a mental deficiency and has not been seen or heard from since. Her family is concerned for her safety.”
The department described Litvin has having “brown hair and brown eyes,” being 5-foot-2 and weighing 140 pounds.
“She was last seen wearing a red and black stripe sweater and a black skirt and left the location on foot,” it said at the time.
The Huntington Park Police Department and the hospital in Huntington Park did not initially identify her based on that report.
JNS asked the LAPD if it routinely shares its missing-person reports with the nearby Huntington Park Police Department or hospitals.
“It depends on the specifics of the investigation,” an LAPD spokesman told JNS. The spokesman did not say if the report about Litvin had been shared.
