A 77-year-old San Antonio woman who vanished from her far west side neighborhood Thursday morning was found safe and reunited with her family that same day, bringing a swift end to a Silver Alert that had gone out across the region. Maria Medellin was last seen around 10 a.m. near Bearwolf Bay and Black Wolf Bay, close to Marbach Road and Loop 1604 East, wearing a pink fanny pack, a navy blue sweatshirt, a pink shirt, grey sweatpants and black shoes.
According to WOAI, Medellin is about five feet tall, weighs around 120 pounds, and has grey hair and brown eyes. The Texas Department of Public Safety issued a Silver Alert for her Thursday, and the Bexar County Sheriff's Office had asked anyone with information on her whereabouts to call (210) 335-4630. Local reporting from KENS 5 placed her last known location in the 10000 block of Bearwolf Bay, an area of winding residential streets off the Outer Loop.
By Thursday evening, the alert was over. Medellin had been found safe and reunited with her family, closing out a case that, for a few tense hours, mobilized the same statewide network built to bring missing seniors home quickly.
A System Built for Speed, With Strict Rules Behind It
Texas can't issue a Silver Alert for just anyone who goes missing. Under Texas Government Code § 411.382 and Texas Administrative Code Title 37 § 9.31, the alert is reserved for Texas residents 65 or older with a documented mental impairment that poses a credible threat to their health and safety. To meet that bar, the Texas Department of Public Safety requires local law enforcement to obtain written medical documentation, signed by a physician or mental health professional, confirming the person's diagnosed cognitive condition.
Once triggered, the network casts a wide net. The Texas Silver Alert Network pushes missing-person information out through local news broadcasts, Texas Department of Transportation electronic highway signs, state lottery terminals and law enforcement communication systems. The program traces back to 2007, when Texas created the statewide network through House Bill 157, modeling it on the Amber Alert system used for missing children. State law also requires that once a missing senior is found safe, agencies notify the Department of Public Safety immediately so the public alert can be canceled — which is what happened Thursday once Medellin was located.
Why Bexar County Built a Dedicated Missing Persons Unit
Medellin's case unfolded against the backdrop of a local system under strain. In late 2025, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office restructured its operations to create a dedicated Missing Persons Unit, backed by $370,000 in county funding, after a steep rise in missing-persons cases had overwhelmed the two deputies previously handling hundreds of open files, as reported by the San Antonio Report. That restructuring was intended in part to accelerate Silver Alert processing for cases just like this one.
The urgency behind that investment shows up in the data. A study published in JAMA Network Open examining 524 Texas Silver Alert activations between 2017 and 2022 found the median age of missing adults with dementia was 77 — the same age as Medellin — and that more than 60% of those alerts involved a missing vehicle. Separately, the Alzheimer's Association has found that six in ten people living with dementia will wander at least once, and that those not found within 24 hours face a high risk of serious injury or death.
Summer Heat Raises the Stakes
Health advocates note that wandering emergencies carry added danger in Texas during summer months, when outdoor heat indices topping 100 degrees can cause severe dehydration or heat stroke in under 30 minutes, according to Alzheimer's Texas. That environmental risk is part of why agencies move as quickly as they do once a Silver Alert criteria are met, pushing highway signs and media alerts out within hours rather than days.
Medellin's case is the latest in a string of Silver Alert cases in the San Antonio area over the past two years. Hoodline has previously reported on searches for missing seniors including 84-year-old George Williams and 70-year-old Sergio Reyes, both of whom were also found safe after alerts went out. Thursday's resolution for Medellin adds to that pattern of relatively quick recoveries, though the underlying risks that prompt each alert remain serious until a missing senior is located.
