A Silver Alert issued early Monday is asking Northern California drivers to watch for a gray 2020 Jeep Wrangler tied to a 72-year-old man who vanished nearly 600 miles away in San Diego County. Mark Jacobs was last seen around 9 p.m. on August 8 near Rancho Santa Fe, according to the alert, and is believed to be behind the wheel of the Jeep, bearing California license plate 8RZZ255. He is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, 170 pounds, with white hair and blue eyes, and was last seen wearing a gray t-shirt and dark blue sweatpants.
The alert, activated by the California Highway Patrol on behalf of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, was posted early Monday by CHP - Alerts, the agency's account for disseminating details and flyers tied to active alerts. It specifically covers Shasta, Butte, Plumas and Tehama counties — a stretch of Northern California more than 600 miles from where Jacobs was last spotted, according to Wanderlog driving-distance data. The wide geographic spread suggests investigators have reason to believe Jacobs may be traveling north along a major highway corridor, though the alert does not specify what led authorities to focus the search there. Anyone who spots Jacobs or his vehicle is asked to call 9-1-1.
How California's Silver Alert System Works
Silver Alerts are one of six emergency missing-person alert systems the CHP manages statewide, alongside AMBER, Blue, Feather, Ebony and Endangered Missing Advisory alerts, according to the California Highway Patrol. The program was created under a 2012 state law and expanded two years later to cover developmentally disabled or cognitively impaired missing people of any age, per the CHP. Before a Silver Alert can go out, local law enforcement must exhaust local search resources and formally determine that the missing person is in peril due to health, age, weather or suspicious circumstances, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Those requests are routed through the CHP's Emergency Notification and Tactical Alert Center, known as ENTAC, a 24-hour operation based at CHP headquarters in Sacramento that evaluates and issues every Silver Alert in the state. Once a request involving a missing driver is approved, the CHP deploys electronic changeable message signs on freeways, issues be-on-the-lookout advisories to regional law enforcement, posts updates through its @CHPAlerts account on X, and distributes electronic flyers — the same multi-channel push now underway for Jacobs.
Why Speed Matters in Cases Like This
Roughly six in 10 people living with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia will wander from safety at least once during their illness, according to research from the Alzheimer's Association cited by the MedicAlert Foundation. That same body of research, cited in testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, found that missing individuals with dementia or cognitive impairment face up to a 50 percent risk of severe injury or death if they are not located within 24 hours. The dossier does not indicate whether Jacobs has a diagnosed cognitive condition; the alert designates him only as an at-risk missing person.
As of Monday, no updates on Jacobs' location or condition had been made public. The distance between his last known location near Rancho Santa Fe and the four counties named in the alert leaves open questions about his intended destination and whether he has ties to Northern California, details that have not been disclosed in the alert itself. Anyone with information is urged to call 9-1-1 immediately.
