An at-risk 70-year-old woman with memory loss has been missing since Wednesday afternoon, when she was last seen along one of Huntington Park's busiest commercial blocks, and her family is growing increasingly worried about her safety. Shirley Ramona Manuel was last spotted around 4 p.m. in the 7600 block of Pacific Avenue, according to authorities seeking the public's help in locating her.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reported that Manuel was last seen in Huntington Park, as first detailed by MyNewsLA.com. Sheriff's officials said Manuel's family is increasingly concerned about her well-being. She is described as a 5-foot-5-inch-tall Black woman weighing about 120 pounds, with gray hair and brown eyes.
Where She Vanished
The stretch of Pacific Avenue where Manuel disappeared sits in the heart of Huntington Park's main commercial district, a corridor known for heavy pedestrian traffic and retail storefronts, according to Streetsblog Los Angeles. The city itself covers roughly three square miles and sits about 5.3 miles southeast of Downtown Los Angeles, bordered by Vernon, Maywood, South Gate, and unincorporated county land, per the City of Huntington Park.
That dense, walkable setting matters for search efforts. Research cited by senior care organization Comfort Keepers indicates that 94% of missing individuals with dementia who wander are found within 1.5 miles of the location where they were last seen, meaning investigators and volunteers scouring the surrounding blocks may have the best shot at locating Manuel quickly.
A Race Against the Clock
The urgency behind cases like Manuel's is rooted in grim statistics. According to the Alzheimer's Association, as cited by the MedicAlert Foundation, 6 in 10 people living with dementia will wander at least once during their illness, and those missing for more than 24 hours face a significantly higher risk of serious injury or death.
Behind the scenes, the sheriff's department follows strict protocols designed to move fast on cases like this. Deputies taking a missing adult report must enter the person's details into the National Crime Information Center database within one hour, and the department's Missing Persons Detail — housed within its Homicide Bureau — is required to notify law enforcement agencies in both the missing person's home city and the jurisdiction where they were last seen. That specialized unit supports contract cities and regional partner agencies across LA County.
How to Report a Sighting
Anyone with information on Manuel's whereabouts is asked to call the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau Missing Persons Detail at 323-890-5500. Those who wish to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or submit a tip online at lacrimestoppers.org.
Manuel's case comes amid a wave of Silver Alerts issued across Los Angeles County in recent days. California authorities activated similar alerts this month for missing seniors in South Los Angeles, Inglewood, and Pico-Union, reflecting a broader regional pattern of vulnerable older adults going missing across Southern California. Under California Government Code Section 8594.10, the California Highway Patrol can activate a statewide Silver Alert when an elderly, developmentally disabled, or cognitively impaired person goes missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, triggering electronic highway sign notices and public broadcasts to widen the search.
