The body found floating in a pond in a Queens park over the weekend is that of a 73-year-old woman suffering from dementia who appeared to have strayed from her home, police and sources said.
Qinmei Lin was found unconscious and unresponsive in a boiler pond in Bowne Park just after 6pm on Sunday — nearly 15 hours after she was seen leaving her home about a half-mile away in Flushing, according to authorities and law enforcement sources.
The sources said that a shell-shocked bystander saw the man’s body swaying near the fountain and called 911.
Emergency responders gingerly removed the woman’s body from the pond and placed her body on the grass as stunned park-goers looked on.
Police said Lane was last seen leaving her home around 3:20 a.m. Sunday.
The sources said that a family member reported the disappearance of the elderly woman, who was suffering from dementia.
Her official cause of death will be determined by the city Medical Examiner’s Office.