B Smith, renown restauranteur, lifestyle guru and former model has gone missing . At age 64, Smith revealed earlier in 2014 that she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s . As if the “getaway days” of Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving aren’t chaotic enough, it’s the worst time for someone with Alzheimer’s to disappear. Smith was reported to be last seen at 8:00pm Tuesday in Southhampton after arriving on a jitney from New York City. Smith is a resident of Sag Harbor where the police have confirmed that there’s an active missing persons investigation and are seeking the public’s help in the search. She was said to be wearing jeans, a pink shirt, blue sweater and black shoes. Let’s hope they find her soon on a cold, snowy, busiest travel day of the year!
See Maria Puente’s report in USA TODAY:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2014/11/26/ailing-restaurateur-b-smith-reported-missing-in-ny/19527787/
Maria Puente, USA TODAY An alert has gone out for famed restaurateur and former model Barbara Smith, known as B. Smith, who has Alzheimer’s and has been reported missing on Long Island.
Fox News first reported that Smith was last seen in Southampton, Long Island, at about 8 p.m. on Tuesday, after arriving from New York City on a jitney.
CBS News tweeted it confirmed the report with Smith’s family.
When Smith didn’t turn up at her home, her husband and business partner, Dan Gasby, reported her missing.
She was said to be wearing a blue sweater, pink shirt, jeans and black sneakers.
The Sag Harbor Express newspaper reported that a local man ran into Gasby about 10 p.m.on Tuesday in Sag Harbor and he said he was looking for Smith.
Police in Sag Harbor, where she lives, confirmed that there is an open, active missing-person investigation seeking Smith, and asked for the public’s help in finding her. Smith’s office did not immediately return calls.
Smith, 64, revealed earlier this year that she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s after years of symptoms such as memory loss and confusion.
She said at the time she was trying to remain positive.
“I think the future’s going to be fine,” she said. “I’m going to do my best to make it work out for me and for as many people that I can possibly help, too.”
Smith, one of the first African-American models to appear on the cover of Mademoiselle, later became an acclaimed restaurateur, designer and decorator.
In 1986, she opened her first restaurant in New York City, and two more followed. Her Washington eatery closed last year after 20 years in business. She went on to become a pioneer in the lifestyle area, an expert in food and home entertaining.
In April, after she and Gasby closed their restaurants; they sold their Central Park West apartment for nearly $6 million and moved to Sag Harbor.
At the time, Gasby joked to the New York Post that they needed a warmer climate, saying, “There’s nothing noble about being old in the cold.”
The apartment, decorated by the couple, seemed to be worth every penny, according to a USA TODAY feature at Christmas in 2005.
The 2,500-square-foot spread on the 35th floor of a Modernist building “boasts views that are both, as they like to say, town (Seventh Avenue south to Times Square and beyond) and country (to the north, all of Central Park).
“Two honey-hued chairs in their bedroom provide a King Kong perspective on the New Year’s Eve ball dropping. In the airy living room, the wheat sectional and espresso club chairs supply scenes of the epicenter of Manhattan Christmas, with ice skaters circling Wollman Rink and horse-drawn carriages along snow-patched paths.”
