Representative Ty Cobb

(NASHVILLE, TN) – This month State Representative Ty Cobb (D-Columbia) joined members of the state House and Senate as Governor Phil Bredesen signed legislation creating Tennessee’s new “Silver Alert System,” a program similar to the current “Amber Alert System” with an emphasis on missing individuals who have Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias.

“Too often we have seen stories on the news about an elderly parent or grandparent that goes missing due to the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s,” said Cobb, a co-sponsor of the legislation. “With this new program, families can now have a little bit more piece of mind knowing that if their loved ones go missing there is a system in place to find them.”

The new law now defines “missing senior citizen” as a person 60 years old or older who’s “whereabouts are unknown” and who has “an impaired mental condition as determined by a local law enforcement agency.”  The Silver Alert would be triggered if that missing person is believed to be in danger because of environmental or weather conditions, or is thought to be unable to return to safety without assistance.

Approximately 100,000 Tennesseans and as many as 5.2 million nationwide are living with Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.  The Silver Alert system is working in eight states, and has resulted in the safe return of a majority of those reported.

“Across the country, the Amber Alert Program has helped rescue hundreds of children that go missing,” Cobb said. “This new programs takes those same practices and puts them in place so that local law enforcement agencies to work together with the media and transportation officials in alerting the public of a missing senior.”