An 86-year-old woman with dementia has been missing since she vanished from her caregiver's home on the 1800 block of Wilton Place in Los Angeles, last seen around 3 p.m. Thursday wearing a blue floral dress. Ana Marlina Martinez stands 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighs about 125 pounds, and has white hair and brown eyes — details family members are hoping the public will recognize as they hold out hope she's found safe.
Martinez was reported missing on September 24, 2026, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, as first reported by KTLA. Her family says she has dementia and they have not heard from her since she disappeared, adding that they are very concerned for her well-being. Where she was heading, if anywhere in particular, remains unclear. In response, the California Highway Patrol officially activated a statewide Silver Alert on behalf of LAPD, according to MyNewsLA.com.
Search Centers on Arlington Heights Near the 10 Freeway
Local law enforcement reports state that Martinez disappeared from her caregiver's home located north of the Santa Monica (I-10) Freeway in Arlington Heights, per the same account from MyNewsLA.com. That geographic detail, along with her physical description, is intended to help residents and search crews narrow down where she might have wandered.
Anyone with information about Martinez's whereabouts is urged to call LAPD's Olympic Area watch commander at 213-382-9182, or 911 in an emergency. During non-business hours or on weekends, tipsters can instead reach LAPD at 1-877-527-3247, and anonymous tips can be submitted to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or through lacrimestoppers.org.
Why Silver Alerts Move So Fast in California
California's Silver Alert program was created through Senate Bill 1047 in 2012 and is codified under California Government Code § 8594.10, authorizing rapid public emergency notifications when elderly or cognitively impaired residents go missing and are determined to be in peril, according to the California Highway Patrol. Separately, California Penal Code § 14211 mandates that police and sheriff departments accept missing person reports without delay and submit at-risk missing cases to state and national databases within two hours, explicitly prohibiting mandatory waiting periods for adults, per the California Department of Justice. Those legal mandates exist because the danger window for a missing person with dementia is narrow and severe.
Clinical research shows that up to 50 percent of missing adults with dementia who remain unlocated for more than 24 hours face serious physical injury or death, according to the National Institutes of Health. Roughly 60 percent of people living with Alzheimer's or dementia will wander away from home or caregivers at least once during their condition, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, as cited by the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation. Across Los Angeles County, an estimated 190,300 residents aged 65 and older live with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia, per the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
County's L.A. Found Program
Los Angeles County operates L.A. Found, a countywide program established in 2018 that distributes trackable radio-frequency wristbands and GPS smartwatches to help law enforcement locate missing residents with dementia or autism, according to CBS News. The program is intended to help locate missing residents with dementia or autism. Whether Martinez was enrolled in any such tracking program has not been reported.
A Silver Alert was issued for Martinez. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is urged to contact LAPD's Olympic Area watch commander.
