Why would my elderly mother take apart her cell phone and then hide the 3 parts in different places?

I cannot tell you the number of cell phones/batteries/ portable phones we went through with Mom. Found them in drawers, or floating in her water cup. Or battery drained and uncharged. It was so frustrating! We got her an old fashioned phone with a long cord. Programmed in a few numbers with pictures of our faces. Instant relief for $25.

Margaret, time for Mom to stop using a cellphone and go back to an old fashioned landline. Our elders and many of us here grew up with landlines, so it is ingrained in our mind how to use one. Even I dislike cellphones as they can be hard to hear compared to the clear quality of a landline.

Your Mom probably got frustrated with the phone and decided to just take it apart. She hid the pieces in different areas like a child would if they broke something.

Margaret, your mom has dementia, right?

There is no why. There is no logic and no reason.

Her brain is broken.