A daughter thanked everyone who went out to search for her missing vulnerable mother.

A 68-year-old woman sparked a large manhunt in Shenley on December 30 after she was reported missing at 2pm.

Her family were extremely concerned because she has severe dementia.

The emergency services were supported by the Shenley community who braved the cold temperatures and extremely dense fog to go out overnight as concern for the woman's welfare grew as each hour passed.

It was not until 9.30am on New Year's Eve that the missing woman was found - she had fallen into a ditch in a cemetery in Shenleybury. She was rushed to hospital after sustaining several serious injuries.

She is now at home recovering with her family.

Her daughter said: "The emergency services response was absolutely amazing. I still cannot believe you managed to find her and that you persevered despite the weather and the darkness, I honestly don’t think we would have found her without your help."

Hertfordshire Constabulary says its new partnership with Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue, Operation Magnify, helped ensure the search for Ms Cook was successful.

Operation Magnify sees the police and fire service pool their resources when searching for high-risk missing people. Officers were able to utilise the fire service’s drone and police thermal heat equipment in the search for the missing woman.

Chief Inspector Steve O’Keeffe, who leads the Hertfordshire Constabulary police search team, said: "Firstly, I’d like to say thank you for all the public support we received, with over 100 people joining the police search effort. Whether you physically assisted in the search for her, or shared our social media appeals, we are very grateful for all of your help – as is the victim and her family.

"The success of this operation speaks for itself – without the assistance of the Herts Fire and Rescue team, we wouldn’t have been able to rescue this lady as efficiently as we did.

"It truly was a joint effort. Without this collaborative working style, I have no doubt that without the assistance of our HFRS personnel that finding her would have been delayed significantly, to the cost of her health."