Wendell Teodoro/WireImageThankfully, this mystery did not have a tragic ending.
Former model B. Smith was found in a Manhattan café today after last being spotted boarding a jitney that was headed toward the Hamptons, according to the New York Daily News. The 65-year-old, who was one of the first African-American models to be on the cover of Mademoiselle and later became a successful New York restaurateur, revealed this past summer that she was battling Alzheimer's disease.
Per the report, Smith's daughter checked with the jitney driver after her mom didn't arrive in Sag Harbor as scheduled Tuesday and was told that Smith had gotten off the bus in Southampton. Smith's husband, producer Dan Gasby, then reported her missing.
The proprietor of the La Parisienne Coffee House in NYC recognized Smith when she came in this morning and called the Sag Harbor police.
In an interview with CBS News in June, Smith opened up about her Alzheimer's diagnosis, recalling that when she first heard the news, "It meant something bad, something really bad for me."
Smith was asked on camera if she knew what day or month of the year it was, and she shook her head no. "Things like that make me feel very sad," she admitted. The model and actress, who opened her first restaurant in 1986 and has authored several cookbooks, also said, however, that she hoped to continue living a full life for as long as possible.