New City Woman Found Alive, Safe In West Nyack

New City resident Denise Gruffi has been found safe in West Nyack after being missing for two days, Clarkstown police said this morning.

Gruffi, 57, was found on Old Mill Road near Strawtown Road in West Nyack at about 10:40 p.m. Wednesday. Sgt. Harry Baumann said Gruffi was wet and tired, but she was not injured. She was taken to Nyack Hospital for treatment for exposure.

Clarkstown police Wednesday night received a report of a suspicious person near the driveway of the United Water Co. facilities at the Lake DeForest dam on Old Mill Road. Baumann said a town officer went to investigate and found Gruffi.

Gruffi, a teaching assistant at Link Elementary School in New City, was missing since she left her Ann Street home in New City about 7 a.m. on Tuesday and never arrived at school. Her husband feared she might be intending to harm herself because of a note she left behind.

Her disapearance sparked a search of her neighborhood and the nearby Link Elementary neighborhood by police, police canine units and the county's emergency helicopter. Police brought in volunteer firefighters to assist with the search on Tuesday and then again on Wednesday firefighters were call in from across Rockland County to help with a grid search that lasted all day and well into the night.

Gruffi's plight sparked an outpouring of support from the New City community, where the family is well-known and Gruffi is well-liked, especially in her role at Link Elementary. This morning, parents said the Link Elementary class of 2011 was wearing their Link shirts to school in the A-Wing of Felix Festa Middle School as a sign of solidarity for Gruffi's safe return home.