A 97-year-old woman with dementia vanished from Los Angeles' Westlake neighborhood on Sunday, last seen barefoot in pajama pants near the 200 block of South Westlake Avenue, and her family is now racing against the clock to bring her home. Chin Chung, who is Korean, stands about 5 feet tall and weighs roughly 110 pounds, with gray hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a pink long-sleeved shirt and navy blue pajama pants when she disappeared, with no shoes on her feet.
The Los Angeles Police Department said Chung suffers from dementia and that her family is concerned for her safety, according to KTLA. Investigators and family members are asking for the public's help locating her, and LAPD posted a Silver Alert about Chung on X as the search intensified. Police have not released any information about a possible destination for her, leaving searchers with no clear lead on where she might have gone.
How the Alert Reached the Public
Once Chung's family reported her missing, California law required officers to act without delay. Under California Penal Code § 14211, local police departments must accept missing person reports immediately and submit at-risk cases to state and national databases within two hours, with no mandatory waiting period, according to IHSS Connect. That legal mandate is what allowed LAPD's Rampart Division, which holds jurisdiction over Westlake, to mobilize so quickly.
California's Silver Alert system, established in 2012 under Senate Bill 1047 and codified in state law, authorizes public notifications specifically when a missing person is 65 or older or cognitively impaired and determined to be in peril, per the California Highway Patrol. Once LAPD requested the alert, it moved through the department's internal procedures under Special Order No. 6, which require officers to complete a Public Alert Form and get sign-off from an Area detective supervisor or watch commander before the request goes out. From there, the alert was processed through the California Highway Patrol's Emergency Notification and Tactical Alert Center in Sacramento, the 24-hour hub that pushes advisories out to highway message boards, social media, and emergency broadcast networks statewide.
Why Every Hour Matters
The urgency behind Chung's case is rooted in grim statistics about dementia-related wandering. About 60% of people living with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia will wander away from home or caregivers at least once during their condition, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Research published in Public Health Reports found that up to half of missing individuals with dementia who are not located within 24 hours suffer serious physical injury or death, underscoring why searchers treat the first day as critical.
Compounding the danger, a University of Florida study analyzing missing senior cases nationwide found that fewer than 4 percent of memory-impaired adults who wander away are able to find their way back home unassisted. That data point is a central reason law enforcement cannot simply wait for Chung to return on her own, and why LAPD's public appeal for tips is treated as an active, essential part of the search rather than routine paperwork.
A Dense Urban Search Zone
Westlake's density adds its own layer of complexity. LAPD's Rampart Division serves roughly 164,961 residents packed into just 5.54 square miles, making it one of the most densely populated police districts in Los Angeles. Los Angeles City Planning data shows Westlake is home to more than 116,000 residents, with 16.8% of local seniors living below the federal poverty line, a demographic backdrop that highlights the vulnerability of the neighborhood's older population.
That same density cuts both ways for searchers. Heavy foot and vehicle traffic raises the risk for a 97-year-old wandering without shoes, but the concentration of residents and businesses along commercial corridors also means more potential witnesses if alert flyers and social media bulletins circulate fast enough to reach them.
Part of a Broader Pattern
Chung's disappearance is not an isolated case. LAPD and CHP issued multiple Silver Alerts across Los Angeles County in late August and early September, including for missing seniors with cognitive impairments in Tujunga, Inglewood, and North Hollywood. Hoodline has covered several of these cases in recent days, including a search for an 81-year-old Inglewood woman and a North Hollywood man missing on foot.
Anyone with information on Chung's whereabouts is urged to contact detectives at 213-484-3400 or call 911. Anonymous tipsters can also reach Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477. Police have not said whether Chung was captured on any private security cameras near South Westlake Avenue or whether she carries medical identification, leaving those details among the open questions investigators are still working to resolve.
