A 74-year-old Grants Pass man with Alzheimer's disease has been missing since Wednesday morning, and police say he left home without his required medication and is experiencing rapid memory loss. David Lee Sparks was last seen around 9 a.m. near 195 Terry Lane, and he had not returned home by 5:30 p.m. that evening.
According to the KATU report, the Grants Pass Police Department is asking the public for help finding Sparks, who is described as 6-foot-1 and about 132 pounds, with long shoulder-length gray hair and a long gray beard. He wears metal-frame bifocal glasses and commonly wears an American flag cowboy hat, suspenders and blue jeans. Before he disappeared, Sparks reportedly asked a relative for gas money for his truck, a detail investigators say points to the risk that he could be driving long distances before running out of fuel, per the KAJO report.
Vehicle and Physical Description
Sparks is believed to be driving a 2004 light gray Ford F-150 extended-cab truck bearing Oregon license plate 475 BJH, the same identifying details cited in the KAJO report. Anyone who spots the truck or Sparks is asked to contact the Grants Pass Police Department at 541-450-6260, and anyone who sees him in immediate danger is urged to call 911 instead.
The department formally issued a Missing & Endangered Person Advisory for Sparks through FlashAlert, Oregon's primary distribution hub for public safety agencies, updating public photos and requesting regional assistance because of his rapid memory loss and missing prescription medications, according to a FlashAlert notice.
Why Speed Matters in Dementia-Related Disappearances
National research underscores why authorities are moving urgently. An estimated 60% of people living with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias will wander away from safety at least once, often repeatedly, according to Alzheimer's Association data cited by AARP. Research from the University of Florida College of Nursing found that fewer than 4% of memory-impaired adults who wander away from home manage to return unassisted, which is why public sightings and police intervention are considered essential rather than optional.
The stakes climb the longer someone remains missing. Search and rescue research documented by the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation shows that roughly half of missing individuals with Alzheimer's or dementia who are not located within the first 24 hours suffer severe physical injury or death, a statistic that frames the urgency behind the Grants Pass search.
Oregon's Alert System and Weather Concerns
Oregon operates a statewide Missing Endangered Person Alert system, administered by the Oregon State Police under House Bill 2764, which was enacted in 2023 to rapidly broadcast advisories for missing people age 60 and older or adults with severe cognitive impairments, according to the Oregon Legislative Information System. State emergency management guidelines specify that there is no waiting period required to report a missing person, and law enforcement agencies are mandated to launch an immediate investigation and enter missing vulnerable adults into state and federal databases within 12 hours, per the Oregon Department of Emergency Management.
Weather adds another layer of concern for searchers. Local reporting on Wednesday indicated that recent rainfall and unseasonably cool temperatures across Josephine County had lowered regional fire danger, but those same conditions raise the risk of hypothermia for anyone stranded outdoors overnight, according to KLDR. Search and rescue operations in the county are managed by the Josephine County Sheriff's Office SAR unit, which relies on a small core staff and trained community volunteers to carry out ground and wilderness searches across Southern Oregon.
Grants Pass Police continue to ask anyone with information on Sparks' whereabouts to come forward as the search continues.
