ATLANTA (AP) - An elderly civil rights leader is safe after disappearing suddenly from her downtown Atlanta hotel.

Unita Blackwell , the first black female mayor in Mississippi, was in town for Martin Luther King Jr. Day ceremonies.

She was found at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Saturday after hours of searching by police and volunteers.

Officials say the 74-year-old is in the early stages of dementia.

Blackwell was the mayor of Mayersville, Mississippi, for two decades.

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