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Mississippi mayor found safe

ATLANTA, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Unita Blackwell, the first black female mayor in Mississippi, was found safe after disappearing from an Atlanta hotel this weekend.

Blackwell, in Atlanta for ceremonies marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day, was found Saturday evening at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday.

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She has been diagnosed with the early stages of dementia, said Tracy Hoover, chief executive officer of Hands On Atlanta, the group that helped put on the Freedom Rally at Big Bethel AME Church.

Blackwell was elected mayor of Mayersville, Miss., in 1977. She was sharing a room at the Renaissance Hotel when she awoke before her assistant and headed outdoors, the newspaper reported.

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