Milwaukee police are asking for the public's help finding Davonte Dalton, a 21-year-old man who was declared critically missing after he was last seen late Sunday night near North 48th Street and West Meinecke Avenue. Dalton stands 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighs about 180 pounds, and has short black hair. He was last seen wearing a black t-shirt, a black hoodie and gray pants.
According to CBS 58, Dalton was seen around 11:30 p.m. Sunday near the intersection, though the seed report from WISN places the sighting late Monday night, a discrepancy that reflects the kind of minor timeline variance sometimes seen in early missing person advisories. Anyone with information is asked to call Milwaukee Police Department District 3 at 414-935-7232.
Dalton's disappearance is notable in part because of where it happened. The intersection sits within Milwaukee's Uptown neighborhood, a dense residential area of historic bungalow homes and multi-family properties located blocks from Washington Park, according to Walk Score. That kind of tightly packed urban layout typically requires door-to-door canvassing and a review of local surveillance footage as investigators retrace his movements.
Why an Adult Case Got a Critical Designation
Under Milwaukee Police Department Standard Operating Procedure 180, the “critically missing” classification is generally reserved for people who meet specific high-risk criteria, such as being 11 or younger, living with a physical or cognitive disability, having a severe medical need for lifesaving medication, expressing suicidal ideation, or being tied to suspected foul play, per FOX6 Milwaukee. Adults are not automatically granted that status, which underscores why Dalton's case has drawn an elevated police response rather than being handled as a routine report. The same outlet has also worked to dispel a common misconception: Milwaukee police do not require a mandatory 24-hour waiting period before accepting a missing person report or launching a search.
The investigation is being led by Milwaukee Police District 3, headquartered at 2333 N. 49th St., which covers roughly 11.8 square miles of the West Side and serves more than 76,000 residents, according to the City of Milwaukee.
Part of a Busy Stretch for Milwaukee's Missing Person Cases
Dalton's case is not an isolated one this week. On the same morning police sought help finding him, the department also issued a critically missing advisory for 13-year-old James Davis, last seen near South 22nd Street and West Mineral Street on the South Side, FOX6 Milwaukee reported. The overlap illustrates the volume of urgent searches Milwaukee police precincts can be running at once, often placing competing demands on district patrol officers.
Police noted in June that the city typically sees a seasonal surge of 20% to 50% in critical missing person cases during the summer months, driven by warmer weather and increased outdoor activity, per the department's account relayed by FOX6 Milwaukee. Adult missing person response in Wisconsin has also evolved through state policy over the years. The Green Alert network, created under 2017 Wisconsin Act 175, followed the 2017 disappearance and death of Air Force veteran Corey Adams in Milwaukee and established a rapid notification system for missing veterans with service-related health conditions, according to Military.com. Separately, the state's Silver Alert system, established in 2014, broadcasts rapid advisories across highway message boards, digital billboards and lottery terminals for missing adults with severe cognitive impairments, per the Wisconsin Crime Alert Network. More broadly, 2023 Wisconsin Act 272 requires the state Department of Justice to train officers and maintain standardized tools for rapidly broadcasting missing person alerts through the Wisconsin Crime Alert Network, according to the Wisconsin Legislative Council.
Hoodline has covered a District 4 missing person search in recent weeks, including a 21-year-old found safe earlier this month. Anyone with information about Davonte Dalton's whereabouts should contact Milwaukee Police Department District 3.
