South Salt Lake Police are asking the public for help finding 43-year-old Benjamin Matthies, who has not been seen in over a month. Police describe Matthies as an at-risk missing person due to medical and mental health conditions, and the case has been assigned reference number LK2026-22676.
The department shared details of Matthies' disappearance in a South Salt Lake Police Department Facebook post on August 5, describing him as approximately 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with blue eyes and light brown hair. As Gephardt Daily reported on Thursday, Matthies had already been unaccounted for over a month by the time police made his case public, a gap that can complicate efforts to trace someone's most recent movements.
Police are asking anyone with information about Matthies' location to call 801-840-4000, a number that connects to non-emergency dispatch serving South Salt Lake and several neighboring Salt Lake County municipalities, according to the Salt Lake County District Attorney. The department's headquarters sits at 2835 South Main Street in South Salt Lake, a central corridor for the city.
Why No Highway Silver Alert
Matthies' case will not trigger an official Silver Alert on state highway signs. Under the Utah Silver Alert Act, Utah Code § 53-10-703, those broadcasts are legally limited to missing individuals 60 or older or those with documented dementia, according to the Utah State Legislature. That leaves younger at-risk adults like Matthies, who police say faces medical and mental health conditions, dependent on local police bulletins and endangered missing person advisories rather than the highway alert system.
Beyond the public Facebook post, officers working missing endangered adult cases in Utah enter descriptive data into the National Crime Information Center database and route advisories through the Utah Criminal Justice Information System to the state Bureau of Criminal Identification, per the University Department of Public Safety. That NCIC registration means officers anywhere in the country would receive an alert if they encounter Matthies. Standardized Utah police policy also requires officers to begin missing person investigations immediately upon receiving a report, without any mandatory waiting period, according to the Cedar City Police Department.
Pattern of Recent South Salt Lake Cases
Matthies' bulletin comes just two days after South Salt Lake Police issued a separate missing person alert for a 25-year-old resident who vanished in late July and was believed possibly headed toward Las Vegas, as per Hoodline. In February, the department sought help locating 35-year-old Brandi Wood after she went missing near State Street and Utopia Avenue, and in August 2024 it issued an Endangered Missing Advisory for 14-year-old Leiyah Johnson. The recurring appeals show a department that regularly turns to public bulletins when other leads run dry.
Community tips have made a difference in similar Salt Lake County cases involving vulnerable adults. Newsweek reported that 29-year-old August Beckwith, who disappeared in late 2025 during a severe mental health crisis, was found safe three weeks later after a member of the public recognized him from law enforcement advisories. That outcome underscores why officers are leaning on public awareness now for Matthies, whose location remains unknown more than a month after he was last seen.
