Reddit’s strong sense of community came into play last week when one user came to the rescue and found another’s missing mother.
Josh Goldberg turned to the website when his mother, May, who has recently been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, went missing from her New York City apartment. Goldberg contacted the police and media, but figured he’d ask for all the help he could get. So he turned to Reddit’s NYC community page, sharing current photos of his mom and asking anyone to contact him if they find her.
IMG: Reddit via Joshgoldberg89
Within a few short hours May Goldberg was found and brought to the police by a Redditor named geryorama, who quickly went to the site to post what happened. Geryorama wrote:
“I was walking home from work around 9:30-10 PM and I noticed May at East 47th and Lexington Avenue. As I saw Josh’s post in the afternoon she looked very familiar. I quickly pulled out my phone and visited this page to ensure it is indeed her. When I realized it’s her, I approached her, asked for her name, told her that her family is looking for her, and took her to Hyatt Hotel lobby to contact the police. The gentleman and lady at the Hyatt front desk were extremely helpful and they contacted the police. Two police officers arrived within three minutes. They identified May and I believe they called for an ambulance. In the meantime, I quickly sent a personal message to Josh via Reddit informing him that her mom has been found and that she is with the police.”
This is just another example of how an online community, like Reddit, can positively impact life outside the Internet.
