OLYMPIA — Drivers in Washington will now see alerts on highway signs when authorities are searching for an older adult who is missing and believed to be in danger because of their health.
Under a notification system that went into effect Thursday, a Silver Alert will be issued when a person who is 60 or older and battling dementia or Alzheimer’s goes missing.
Information on a vehicle in which they may be traveling will be posted on freeway signs and possibly in highway advisory radio messages. Details on their last known whereabouts also may be included.
The Washington State Patrol and state Department of Transportation will coordinate the content and dissemination of messages.
“This is another effective tool to get people home safe to their families faster,” said state patrol spokeswoman Maggie Booker.
Patrick O’Neil became a vocal supporter of a Silver Alert system after his mother, who lived in Everett and was in the early stage of dementia, went missing and died before she was found.
Ethel O’Neil, 89, disappeared July 16, 2014. Her body was discovered 28 days later in her car, which had run off a private road near Lake Stevens. It was learned later that she had stopped at two locations to ask for directions, but authorities did not know this at the time.
“It may have been different had the Silver Alert been in place like other states. She may have been found,” O’Neil said in June after watching Gov. Jay Inslee sign the legislation creating the system. “Anything that would get (information) out there would be important. It took six days to get information out on my mom.”
Washington has the “Endangered Missing Person Advisory Plan” for people believed to be in danger because of age, health or mental or physical disability. Under this plan, the state patrol disseminates information to local law enforcement agencies when such a person goes missing.
The Silver Alert system will now let the public know as well. It will operate much like the Amber Alert system for abducted children except the emergency broadcast system will not be activated for missing adults as it is for children.
Content of each alert may vary depending on the size of the highway sign, officials said. Generally, information will be posted on a vehicle’s make, model and color as well as license plate and state.
Alerts will appear on signs in the area where a person went missing and can be posted statewide if requested, transportation officials said.
State Sen. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, championed a Silver Alert system for several years.
“We hope that it will never be needed but will be there when we do need it and will help us save lives,” Bailey said Friday. “We want to find people as quickly as possible. We hope to never see a repeat of the situation that happened in Snohomish County.”
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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