Nina Kraus, Northwestern University professor, found after going missing in Evanston, Illinois
Well-known Northwestern University professor Nina Kraus has been found a day after leaving her Evanston home for a walk on Monday and not returning.
Late Tuesday afternoon, an ambulance came and took Kraus away on a stretcher. Her family said she was alive and was going to the hospital.
Evanston police confirmed that Kraus was located and was taken to a hospital.
CBS News Chicago spoke to the woman who said she found Kraus. The woman said she lives in the neighborhood, and came outside searching for Kraus — only to find Kraus behind some large trees and bushes in a front-yard garden just one door down Kraus' home.
The woman said she called out Kraus' name, and Kraus answered.
Paramedics and police were on the scene soon afterward as Kraus was wheeled into an ambulance. Her family also rushed over, and there were hugs and sighs of relief among residents of the neighborhood.
"I just came home and parked my car there, and I heard people shrieking and crying. Didn't know what was going on. Obviously, we knew she was missing, but I looked out my window and I saw a big event going on, and then a few minutes later the ambulance got here — and thankfully, she's alive, so that's great," said neighbor Laura Bainbridge. "Everyone here in the neighborhood is very, very happy for the news."
Kraus was reported missing by her family on Monday, Sept. 1. The 72-year-old had last been seen leaving her home on the 1500 block of Ashland Avenue in Evanston around 9 a.m. that day Family members said she did not bring her phone with her.
Evanston police searched for her on the ground and by air.
Kraus' son, Mikey Perkins, and his wife, Hannah Geil-Neufeld, said Kraus always took long walks in Evanston. She has lived, and walked, in the neighborhood for decades.
"Nothing was unusual other than that day she didn't bring her phone," Perkins said.
"And that she didn't come back after, you know, an hour or two," added Geil-Neufeld.
Kraus is a professor of neurobiology in the School of Communication at Northwestern, studying how audio and the brain interact. She spoke on stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., in 2018 about the impact of music on the mind.
"She's well known in that community," Perkins said. "She's well-published and has spoken all over."