A 20-year-old autistic man reported missing in Tewksbury on Saturday was found safe just hours after police issued an urgent public alert asking residents to help track him down. The man was last seen around 6:30 p.m. in the Chandler Street area, riding a blue three-wheeled bicycle with a basket and a Florida license plate.
The Tewksbury Police Department first shared the alert on Facebook, asking anyone who spotted the man or had information about his whereabouts to contact the department right away. In its initial post, police described him as a white male standing approximately 6 feet tall, last seen wearing gray shorts and a gray Boston Celtics t-shirt, according to the department's Facebook page. As the search continued, the department posted an updated photo taken that same day to help the public identify him.
Search Resolved Within Hours
Later on Saturday, the department posted a follow-up update confirming the missing man had been safely located, closing out what had been a tense stretch for the neighborhood surrounding Chandler Street — a corridor connecting Main Street (Route 38) to Whipple Road and home to landmarks including the Tewksbury Public Library, per the Town of Tewksbury. No further details were released about where or how he was found.
The rapid resolution reflects why local departments move quickly and publicly when a person with autism goes missing. A landmark study published in the journal Pediatrics found that nearly 49% of children and youth with autism spectrum disorder attempt to wander or bolt from safe environments, according to Autism Speaks. The stakes in these situations can be severe: the National Autism Association reports that accidental drowning accounts for 71% of lethal outcomes in autism-related wandering cases, and more than one-third of autistic individuals who elope are unable to communicate their name, address, or phone number.
State and Local Safety Nets for Vulnerable Residents
Massachusetts has built statutory infrastructure to respond to exactly this kind of emergency. Under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 6A, Section 18L, the Commonwealth established the Silver Alert Community Response System to coordinate rapid emergency notifications and direct public safety resources when individuals with cognitive impairments or memory disorders go missing, according to the 194th General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Some municipal departments have also adopted preventive measures: the Town of Plainville, for instance, offers voluntary At-Risk Community Safety Registrations that let families submit recent photos and emergency profiles in advance so officers can launch an immediate search if a vulnerable resident wanders off.
Tewksbury Police can be reached at their non-emergency dispatch line, 978-851-7373, or in person at department headquarters at 918 Main Street, per the Town of Tewksbury. This is not the first high-profile missing person search the department has led in recent years. In January 2025, Tewksbury Police launched a joint search with Lowell for Jill Kloppenburg, a case that would later take a far darker turn when investigators tied remains found under a Tyngsboro garage to the missing Lowell woman. Saturday's outcome, by contrast, ended the way families and officers hope every one of these alerts will: quickly, and with the missing person found safe.
