When a missing at-risk adult isn’t found within 24 hours, roughly half are severely injured or found dead. That statistic hit home in Georgia this year, where 79-year-old Ernestine Merritt left for church at 4 a.m. and was found in a creek four days later. Georgia issued 69 Mattie’s Calls in the first four months of 2026, up sharply from 213 for all of last year, and each large search can cost around $1,500 per hour.
Volunteer nonprofits like Georgia Emergency Search & Rescue fill the gap, bringing drones, search dogs and four-wheelers to assist police at little or no cost to families. Their work provides answers either way: a reunion when possible, closure when it isn’t. Meanwhile, the International Association of Chiefs of Police recommends voluntary dementia registries so responders know in advance who might wander and what they look like.
Florida has its own tools, including the Silver Alert system, and many local law enforcement agencies on the Suncoast keep dementia registries. If you’re caring for someone with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, call your county sheriff’s office or local police non-emergency line and ask how to register them. Do you know someone who could benefit from a registry, and have you talked with your family about a plan?
