A Davis Junction woman, who was the subject of a 9 1/2-hour missing persons search Wednesday, has been found dead about a mile from her home, Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said Wednesday night.

Dana McKinney, 68, was found deceased at 2:28 p.m. in a body of water about a mile west of her home, which is located in the 15,000 block of East Oak Tree Drive in Davis Junction, VanVickle said.

Her cause of death is pending an autopsy by the Ogle County Coroner’s Office. There is no foul play suspected, VanVickle said; law enforcement officials obtained video of McKinney walking alone from where she went missing.

McKinney was last seen at 1:10 a.m. Wednesday at her home. She suffered from dementia and was not carrying a cell phone when she left the home as other family members were asleep. VanVickle said family members called 911 at 5 a.m. when they woke up and realized she wasn’t in the home.

VanVickle said the call came in during his agency’s shift change and night shift was kept on duty to aid in the search. All county assets were in place at the scene by 6 a.m., including Ogle County Sheriff’s Office K-9 units used to search the area.

“We had a K-9 track that led towards Illinois Route 72 that we were confident in for the direction of her travel,” VanVickle said. “It was a foggy morning and misting. We reached out to Boone County Search and Rescue and Christian Aid Ministries Urban Search and Rescue. We searched that area that’s along Kilbuck Creek and is a wooded area. We knew it would take a lot of manpower. We had search and rescue personnel from across Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. We had about 75 additional people from outside our organization on scene for search and rescue fairly early on.”

The search also included multiple drones with thermal imaging and an Illinois State Police air search unit. Ground search personnel found McKinney’s body. Search and rescue personnel utilized experience in human behavior, including tendencies of lost people who suffer from dementia.

“She had at least four hours of lead time on us after she left the home and did not have a cell phone with her,” VanVickle said. “We had a lot of area to search. With every minute someone is missing, the search grid expands. Getting boots on the ground is huge for getting through those areas. Being able to draw on those regional resources is huge.”

VanVickle said the area searched Wednesday was over 1,100 acres in size and was primarily woods, making the search more difficult. The Ogle County Sheriff’s Office has three K-9 units which are trained for missing persons searches.

“Having the K-9s allows us to get boots on the ground fast,” VanVickle said. “Without our K-9 units, we would have had zero direction until the additional search and rescue teams got there. We got ahead of the curve right away. It’s a huge benefit for a rural agency like we are.”

While the outcome of the search was not what first responders hoped for, VanVickle said he was thankful closure was able to be found for the family.

“Our goal was to bring her home safely,” VanVickle said. “That’s why we called in every resource we could right at the very beginning. While we didn’t have the outcome we wanted, we were able to provide a quick outcome for the family. This didn’t drag on and we were able to provide that closure right away.”

Agencies responding to the missing persons search Wednesday included the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office, Monroe Township Fire Protection District, Boone County Search and Rescue, Christian Aid Ministries Search and Rescue, Winnebago County EMA, Carroll County EMA, Ogle County EMA, the Salvation Army, ISP air operations and the Ogle County Coroner’s Office. Monroe Center Community Church provided space for the search operation.

VanVickle said peer support counseling services were made available to first responders following Wednesday’s search operation.

“That’s something we’ve really worked hard on in the past couple of years is peer support,” VanVickle said. “Everyone knows we have those resources available. That’s something that’s a given now for our agency and it’s nice to have in place.”