A Silver Alert is active for Kenneth Martin, an 82-year-old man last seen in Del City, Oklahoma, Sunday evening just after 8:30 p.m. Police say Martin does not have access to his required medication, and he may be traveling in a blue-gray 2014 Nissan Frontier pickup truck bearing Oklahoma license plate number DXM296.
According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, as reported by News 9, Martin was wearing a dress shirt, dark blue wind pants and moccasin-style shoes when he was last seen. Police have asked the public to dial 911 immediately if he is spotted. Oklahoma law requires a missing senior citizen to be at least 60, have an unknown location or dementia or another cognitive impairment, pose a credible threat to health and safety, and have available recovery information for a Silver Alert to be activated, under Oklahoma Statutes § 63-1-1990.5.
Why the Search Moves Fast
The urgency behind these searches is grounded in national data on wandering behavior. Roughly 60% of people living with dementia will wander away from home or a safe environment at least once, according to statistics compiled by the Alzheimer's Association and cited by AgingInPlace.org. More than nine in 10 people with dementia who leave home alone may be unable to find their way home without assistance, according to Parentgiving, a concern compounded in Martin's case by his lack of access to needed medication.
Del City sits about 7.5 square miles southeast of Oklahoma City, with a 2020 census population of 21,822, and the suburb is directly bisected by Interstate 40 while sitting near Interstate 35, according to Wikipedia.
How the Alert Reaches Drivers Statewide
The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety describes statewide Silver Alert messaging as including wireless emergency alerts, per the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. Oklahoma law also requires that missing senior profiles be logged immediately into the National Crime Information Center database once an alert is issued, giving officers in neighboring jurisdictions the ability to flag Martin's vehicle if it crosses county lines.
The Del City Police Department serves a community of more than 21,000 residents. Oklahoma's Silver Alert framework itself dates back to 2009, when the legislature created the notification system under House Bill 2030 to mirror the Amber Alert model for missing children, according to the Oklahoma Senate.
Should Martin remain unrecovered, state law includes another layer of tracking: under Oklahoma's Francine's Law, missing person cases must be submitted to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System within 30 days, per the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. The Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation describes Silver Alert systems in several states.
Martin's case remains the subject of an active Silver Alert. Anyone who spots Martin or the blue-gray Nissan Frontier with plate DXM296 is urged to call 911 right away.
