Los Angeles County authorities are asking the public for help finding Jose Elluterio Lopez, a 98-year-old man who was last seen Saturday, September 12, 2026, at about 1:30 p.m. on the 1300 block of West 97th Street in an unincorporated area of South Los Angeles. He was standing 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighing roughly 115 pounds, with brown eyes, white hair, and wearing a red and black shirt.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department considers Lopez at risk due to a mental condition, according to KTLA. This is not the first time deputies have searched for Lopez near this exact address. In April 2026, he was reported missing from the same 1300 block of West 97th Street and was later located, according to MyNewsLA.com.
The pattern stretches back further still. In June 2023, authorities issued an at-risk missing person alert for Lopez, then 95, after he disappeared from the same block wearing a gray jacket and brown pants; at the time, deputies noted he had been diagnosed with dementia, per the Los Angeles Patch. Whether any details from the April search, including nearby locations or transit points, offered clues in his recovery remains an open question.
Why Wandering Follows a Predictable Pattern
Lopez's repeated disappearances from the same address align with well-documented behavior among people with dementia. Research compiled by Practical Neurology reports wandering among approximately 20% of community-dwelling people with dementia and 60% of institutionalized people, which is why search efforts typically concentrate on the immediate neighborhood.
That same research underscores the urgency of the first day: if a wandering person with dementia is not located within 24 hours, up to 50% suffer serious physical injury or death. Medical experts cited in the same research advise calling 911 within 15 minutes of discovering that a person with dementia is missing. National Alzheimer's disease statistics are included in data published by PMC.
Jurisdiction and the Legal Push for Fast Action
The 1300 block of West 97th Street sits in an unincorporated area of South Los Angeles. The LASD Missing Persons Detail is identified as the contact unit for the case.
Under California Penal Code § 14211, agencies statewide are required to accept missing person reports without delay and prioritize them over property crime investigations, with no mandatory waiting period, per FindLaw. Separately, California has a Silver Alert system, established under Senate Bill 1047 in 2012 and codified in Government Code § 8594.10, according to the California Highway Patrol. Information about the system is available from CHP.
Anyone with information about Lopez's whereabouts is asked to contact the LASD Homicide Bureau's Missing Person Detail at (323) 890-5500.
