A Silver Alert is active for 66-year-old Thomas Edward Flippin, who vanished Wednesday near 135 Commerce Street in downtown Clarksville — the same address that houses Clarksville Police Department headquarters. Flippin has no phone with him, and police say he has a medical condition that may impair his ability to return safely without assistance.
The Clarksville Police Department said it is working with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on the possible Silver Alert, and asked the public to call 911 immediately with any information on Flippin's whereabouts. As reported by Main Street Media of Tennessee, the alert was issued after Flippin was last seen Wednesday, August 12, near the Commerce Street address, which also happens to serve as the central operational hub for city police.
Flippin is described as a white male standing approximately 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighing around 180 pounds, with gray hair and hazel eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray shirt, black pants and black shoes. He also has some mental health concerns, according to the department, and carries the NCIC number M149056242 tied to his case.
How the Silver Alert System Works
Tennessee law sets a strict clock for cases like this one. Under Tennessee Code § 38-6-121, local agencies that receive a report of a missing vulnerable adult must launch an immediate investigation, notify the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation within four hours, and enter the person into the National Crime Information Center database within that same window, according to FindLaw. A Silver Alert can be requested for anyone 60 or older believed to be in danger because of age, health, a mental health condition or a physical disability, or who is otherwise unable to return home safely without help, per the same statutory framework.
Those quick timelines appear to explain how fast Flippin's case moved from a missing-person report to a statewide alert. Tennessee's Silver Alert program has a strong track record: the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Alzheimer's Tennessee announced in February that the program has issued more than 500 alerts statewide with a recovery success rate exceeding 90 percent, according to Local 3 News.
Tools for the Public and Local Resources
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has also built out public-facing tools meant to speed up tips in cases like this one. In January 2025, the agency launched the TBI Find mobile app and the SafeSeniorTN.com website, giving residents real-time access to Silver Alerts and a direct channel to submit information to investigators, per a report from WATE-TV. Anyone with information on Flippin can call the Clarksville Police Department at 931-551-7386 or reach the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
Locally, Clarksville police say they field a heavy volume of calls involving residents in mental health crisis. Department figures show more than 1,300 mental health-related calls for service between January and early August, including 822 involving individuals in crisis or threatening suicide. The department also maintains 70 officers trained through its 40-hour Crisis Intervention Team program, designed to help officers respond to people experiencing mental health crises or cognitive distress.
A Painful Precedent in Clarksville
Flippin's case follows a string of missing-adult searches in the city this year, including a search for missing 24-year-old Michael Kennedy earlier this month amid similar mental health concerns. It also echoes a case from September 2024, when an 80-year-old Montgomery County woman with early dementia who had been reported missing was later found deceased in a commercial parking lot along Wilma Rudolph Boulevard in Clarksville, Hoodline reported at the time.
As of Saturday, it remains unclear which direction Flippin may have traveled from the Commerce Street area, and police have not indicated whether tips through the TBI Find app or leads generated by Crisis Intervention Team officers have advanced the search. Tennessee also formally recognizes May as Silver Alert Awareness Month under state law, an effort meant to keep public attention on cases involving missing seniors and vulnerable adults. For now, investigators are asking anyone with information on Flippin's location to come forward immediately.
