An 86-year-old Austin woman with medical and cognitive conditions has been missing since Thursday evening, last seen walking with a limp near the 1400 block of Bradbury Lane in North Austin around 5:30 p.m. Uralene Davis-Williams stands 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs about 160 pounds, and has short gray hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a dark dress and slippers.
Austin police say they are concerned about her immediate welfare, according to KEYE, which first reported her disappearance. Family members and investigators share that concern, the station reports. Davis-Williams was last seen near Bradbury Lane, a residential street in North Austin's Harris Ridge neighborhood within the 78753 ZIP code, close to major traffic corridors including Dessau Road and Parmer Lane, according to Realtor.com. Anyone who sees her is asked to call 911 immediately.
A Race Against Triple-Digit Heat
The timing adds urgency to the search. Austin recorded a high temperature of 100°F on Thursday, with late-evening readings still above 82°F when Davis-Williams was last seen, according to Time and Date weather records. For a disoriented senior on foot, that kind of heat raises the risk of dehydration and heat exhaustion considerably, especially overnight if she remains outdoors without shelter or water.
Research from the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation has found that six in 10 people living with dementia will wander at least once, and up to half face severe injury or death if they are not found within 24 hours of going missing. Separate search-and-rescue research from the University of Florida found that 82.3% of memory-impaired wanderers are located within the first 12 hours after disappearing, with afternoon and early evening hours yielding the highest discovery rates — a window investigators are now racing against as Thursday evening slips further into the past.
Why No Silver Alert Has Been Issued
As of this report, no statewide Silver Alert appears to have accompanied the search for Davis-Williams. Under Texas Government Code § 411.382, a Silver Alert can only be issued for Texas residents 65 or older with a documented mental impairment that poses a credible threat to their safety, and it requires family or guardians to supply written medical documentation from a physician before the Texas Department of Public Safety will authorize a statewide broadcast. The system, created by the Texas Legislature under House Bill 157 in 2007, is coordinated by the Texas Department of Public Safety alongside the Texas Department of Transportation and local police departments, and any approved alert is capped at a maximum 24-hour broadcast window unless extended or cancelled after a location update.
Statewide, missing adult cases are not rare. Texas law enforcement agencies recorded 12,080 missing adult reports out of 40,309 total missing person cases in 2025, according to the Texas Center for the Missing, though most of those cases do not meet the strict cognitive-impairment threshold required to trigger a public alert network.
How Neighbors Can Help
The Austin Police Department Missing Persons Unit is asking residents near Bradbury Lane, Dessau Road, and Parmer Lane to check home security or doorbell camera footage from Thursday evening for any sign of Davis-Williams. Tips can be directed to APD's Missing Persons Unit at (512) 974-5250, which works alongside Crime Stoppers to canvass neighborhoods and process public leads.
Similar Silver Alert cases across major Texas cities have often ended with seniors located safely within 24 to 48 hours once community tips pour in after public appeals, including recent cases in Houston and San Antonio. Hoodline has covered several of those outcomes, including a case where a San Antonio search ended fast. Anyone with information on Davis-Williams's whereabouts is urged to call 911 immediately or reach out to APD's tip line.
