A Silver Alert is active for 16-year-old Anna Knowles, who vanished from Charlestown, Indiana Wednesday night and hasn't been seen since. Police describe her as a white female standing 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 159 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes, last seen wearing a white hoodie and black pants around 11 p.m.
According to WISH-TV, the Charlestown Police Department is asking the public for help locating Knowles and believes she is in extreme danger. Anyone with information is urged to call 911 or the department directly at 812-246-6995. Authorities have said Knowles may require medical attention, though the outlet's report does not specify what condition or treatment she might need.
Why a Silver Alert and Not an Amber Alert
Indiana's Silver Alert system wasn't always available for teenagers. As Hoodline reported in connection with a recent New Albany case, the alerts were originally created for elderly adults experiencing dementia or cognitive decline, but a 2018 expansion included missing children with disabilities and medical needs.
That distinction matters here. Unlike Amber Alerts, which require a believed child abduction and may include suspect information when available, Silver Alerts can be declared when a missing juvenile is in extreme danger or requires medical care without proof of an abduction, per reporting from WTHR. Under Indiana Code § 5-2-17-1, a high-risk missing person is legally defined as someone who may be at risk of injury or death, including those whose disappearance involves inherently dangerous circumstances or a need for medical attention or prescription medication.
Coordinating the Search Across State Lines
Charlestown sits in Clark County in southern Indiana, just north of Louisville, Kentucky, and about an hour and 45 minutes from Indianapolis. Those geographic details provide context for the search.
Statewide alerts like the one issued for Knowles are coordinated through the Indiana Clearinghouse for Information on Missing Children, Missing Veterans at Risk, and Missing Endangered Adults, which serves as a repository for missing-person information and emergency alerts. The clearinghouse's mission spans missing-person information and emergency alerts statewide.
A Quiet Town Confronts an Urgent Search
Charlestown is a community, making a case like this a jarring disruption.
This isn't the first Silver Alert to ripple through southern Indiana in recent weeks. Hoodline previously reported on a Silver Alert issued in August for 18-year-old Mallory Brindos, missing from nearby New Albany and also believed to be in extreme danger and in need of medical attention, providing another recent example of the state's Silver Alert system being used for a missing teen or young adult.
No further details on Knowles's possible whereabouts have been released. Charlestown police continue to ask anyone with information to call 911 or reach the department at 812-246-6995.
