An 86-year-old Wenatchee man is missing, and investigators say his disappearance poses a credible threat to his health and safety. Carl Pruitt was last seen around 9:30 a.m. Saturday headed toward the north end of Wenatchee, and his white 2021 Ford F-350 pickup was later spotted heading northbound on Horse Lake Road at roughly 12:40 p.m. Sunday.
The Washington State Patrol activated a Silver Alert on Pruitt's behalf at the request of the Wenatchee Police Department, which is the agency investigating his disappearance, according to WSP Missing Person Alerts. The case has been assigned number 26W13203. Pruitt is described as 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 218 pounds, with gray hair and blue eyes, and he may be wearing a gray shirt with either blue overalls or brown pants. His truck carries Washington license plate D76203.
Anyone who sees Pruitt or his vehicle is asked to call 911 immediately. The Wenatchee Police Department's non-emergency line, 509-663-9911, is also listed on the alert for those with additional information. As reported Sunday by NewsRadio 560 KPQ, local police deemed the case serious enough to trigger the alert after tracking Pruitt's last known movements through the city and up into the foothills.
A Gravel Road Into Wenatchee's Foothills
Horse Lake Road is not a typical city street. It is a dirt-and-gravel route that climbs more than 1,200 vertical feet from North Wenatchee Avenue into the 1,700-acre Horse Lake Reserve, according to the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust. The road functions as a gateway into steep, remote trail networks and wildlife habitat, a landscape that could complicate any search effort if Pruitt's truck left the roadway or if he continued deeper into the foothills.
Calls related to the case, whether emergency or non-emergency, funnel through RiverCom 911, the multi-jurisdictional dispatch center in Wenatchee that coordinates for 22 law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical agencies across Chelan and Douglas counties, per the agency's own account of its operations. RiverCom handles roughly 51,000 emergency calls a year across a 4,741-square-mile coverage area, underscoring the scale of the region investigators would need to cover if the search expands.
Who Would Take Over a Ground Search
Should the investigation shift from a vehicle-focused search into a wilderness operation, the Chelan County Sheriff's Office holds primary statutory responsibility under Washington law for coordinating search and rescue within the county. The sheriff's office maintains a Special Operations Search and Rescue Unit specifically built for difficult foothill and wilderness terrain like the ground surrounding Horse Lake Road. Ground operations in that kind of rugged country are typically supported by Chelan County Volunteer Search & Rescue, a non-profit deployed by local sheriff's offices to run wilderness, grid, and UTV searches, and dispatched through RiverCom 911.
Why Silver Alerts Exist
Washington's Silver Alert system was created under RCW 13.60.010 as part of the Washington State Patrol's Endangered Missing Person Advisory plan, designed to notify the public when an endangered adult 60 or older with cognitive or physical impairments goes missing. Legislative findings behind the law note that roughly 60 percent of individuals with dementia will wander at least once in their lives, and that up to 50 percent of wandering seniors not located within 24 hours suffer serious injury or death. Those findings helped justify a statewide public notification system intended to speed up recovery.
When a Silver Alert involves a vehicle, as Pruitt's does, the Washington State Patrol coordinates with the state Department of Transportation to post the vehicle's description and license plate on electronic highway message signs and Highway Advisory Radio broadcasts, per reporting from the Courier-Herald. The alerts do not, however, trigger automatic emergency chimes on mobile phones the way Amber Alerts sometimes do.
Statewide, the system has a strong track record: the Washington State Patrol reported issuing 77 missing person alerts in 2025, with 70 of those activations aiding in the recovery of the missing individual. Lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 5822 during the 2025-2026 session to mandate annual performance reporting on alert activations, recovery times, and outcomes, reflecting ongoing state-level efforts to track how well the system is working.
No further details on Pruitt's condition or whereabouts have been released. Anyone with information is urged to call 911, or reach the Wenatchee Police Department's non-emergency line for tips that are not immediate emergencies.
