A statewide Senior Alert is active for 73-year-old Carl Marsh, who vanished near the 8000 block of Phillips Avenue in Centennial late Monday night carrying a green Nike backpack. Marsh, who is Black, has gray hair and brown eyes, stands 5 feet 11 inches tall, and weighs about 210 pounds, was last seen wearing black and gray pants with a gray shirt around 11:30 p.m. His family says he suffers from a cognitive impairment that may affect his memory, and they are concerned for his safety.
The alert was issued by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which posts such notifications at cbi.colorado.gov/alerts. Under Colorado law, a Senior Alert can only be activated when a missing person is at least 60 years old, disappeared within the state, has a law-enforcement-verified impaired mental condition based on family or medical documentation, and faces a credible threat to their safety and health, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Anyone who spots Marsh is asked to call 911 or the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office at 303-795-4711.
How the Search Is Being Coordinated
Once local law enforcement activates a Senior Alert, the state agency distributes emergency notifications directly to participating radio and television stations statewide and works with the Colorado Department of Transportation to post vehicle details on electronic highway message signs, per the bureau's own account of the process. The system is designed to mirror the Amber Alert framework, maximizing public visibility across transportation corridors in the critical early hours after a vulnerable adult disappears.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, headquartered at 13101 E. Broncos Parkway in Centennial, provides primary law enforcement services for the city under a municipal contract maintained since Centennial incorporated in 2001, according to the City of Centennial. The sheriff's office serves more than 173,000 residents across 864 square miles of Arapahoe County. Search operations in the county can also draw on the Arapahoe Rescue Patrol, a 24/7 volunteer search-and-rescue team that has partnered with the sheriff's office and other local public safety agencies since 1957, per Wikipedia.
Why Wandering Poses Such a Serious Risk
Six in ten people living with dementia will wander at least once during their illness, and many will do so repeatedly if unassisted, according to research from the Alzheimer's Association cited by the National Institutes of Health. Wandering among people with cognitive impairments can lead to dangerous falls, environmental exposure, and acute disorientation, which is part of why families and investigators treat these disappearances with urgency.
The risk is not abstract for Centennial. An estimated 91,000 Coloradans aged 65 and older were living with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia in 2026, supported by roughly 211,000 unpaid family caregivers statewide, per the Alzheimer's Association. Centennial itself is home to about 108,860 residents, with roughly 15.3% of them aged 65 or older, according to 2024 U.S. Census Bureau data.
A Familiar Pattern of Local Alerts
Marsh's case follows a pattern of Senior Alerts issued for missing older adults with cognitive impairment across the Denver metro area and Colorado this year. In January, the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office and CBI issued a Senior Alert for another missing Centennial-area senior, 75-year-old David Birdsall, who also suffered from cognitive impairment, as Hoodline previously reported. Similar alerts went out in August for 85-year-old James Pelley in Meeker and 79-year-old Mary Rebecca Soutar in Westminster.
For missing adults who lack a formal medical diagnosis and therefore do not meet the statutory Senior Alert criteria, the state uses a separate Endangered Missing Alert protocol to broadcast public notices when a vulnerable adult faces evident safety risks. Colorado law also establishes a framework for local recovery programs and grants to help local governments track and locate individuals who wander due to Alzheimer's disease, dementia, or developmental disabilities, according to Justia Law's summary of the statute.
Anyone with information about Carl Marsh's whereabouts is urged to call 911 immediately. Media inquiries about the alert should be directed to the requesting law enforcement agency at the same Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office number listed above.
