A police dog and his handler helped track down a missing Chilliwack senior Thursday night.

Mounties responded at 11: 15 p.m. to a report of a woman with Alzheimer's disease missing from her South Sumas Road home. The woman's husband told police his wife could have been gone for up to two hours.

A police dog named Cargo and his handler, Const. Mike Jordan, picked up her scent at the home and, within a half-hour, found the woman in an overgrown area on a nearby property.

The woman was not injured.

An RCMP spokesperson said the case underscored the importance of K-9 units in missing person cases in which time is of the essence.

"Our police dogs and their handlers provide an invaluable service to us," said Const. Tracy Wolbeck in a press release. "Cargo and his handler were able to locate a high-risk missing person in a very short period of time and prevented any harm that could have come to this woman because of how quickly they were able to expedite the search."