A Silver Alert is active for 66-year-old Lamenda Ancar, a New Orleans woman last seen around 9 a.m. Wednesday near 7111 Pinebrook Dr. in New Orleans East before she vanished on foot. Her family says she has a medical condition that can leave her disoriented, and she has not been seen since.
Louisiana State Police confirmed they received the New Orleans Police Department's request to issue the alert at approximately 6:23 p.m. Wednesday — roughly nine hours after Ancar was last seen, according to Louisiana State Police. As reported by WBRZ, Ancar is described as a Black woman standing 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing approximately 125 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink, brown and tan shirt with gray pants.
Family Flags Medical Condition Behind Disappearance
Ancar's family reported that her medical condition may cause her to become disoriented, the outlet's report notes, and police believe she is on foot. NOPD requested the statewide alert, and anyone with information is asked to dial 911 or contact the department directly. The New Orleans Police Department can also be reached at 504-821-2222, while detectives with the department's Seventh District — which is handling the case — can be reached separately at 504-658-6070.
The 7000 block of Pinebrook Drive sits in the Pines Village neighborhood. NOPD's Seventh District is the department's largest geographic command at 133 square miles, according to the New Orleans Police Department. That vast territory presents unique challenges for officers conducting neighborhood searches for someone who wandered off on foot.
Second New Orleans East Silver Alert in a Day
Ancar's case marks the second Silver Alert issued for someone missing in New Orleans East within roughly 24 hours. A day earlier, Louisiana State Police issued — and then canceled — a Silver Alert for 71-year-old Darryl Williams after he was located safe following his own disappearance on foot in the same area, as Hoodline previously reported.
Louisiana's Silver Alert program was created by the state legislature in 2008 under Revised Statute 40:2530.1 to allow rapid public broadcasts when missing seniors 60 or older, or adults with documented cognitive impairments, face credible safety threats. Under NOPD's Chapter 41.23 operations manual, missing adult reports involving known physical or mental health vulnerabilities are classified as Level II “critically missing,” a designation that requires precinct detectives to coordinate directly with state authorities.
Why Speed Matters in the First Hours
State guidelines make clear that Louisiana law enforcement agencies must accept missing-person reports immediately upon notification, without imposing arbitrary waiting periods of 24 or 48 hours. That standard underscores the significance of the nine-hour gap between when Ancar was last seen and when the state alert request reached troopers.
The stakes of that timeline are echoed in national research. According to the Alzheimer's Association, 6 in 10 people living with dementia or memory impairment will wander at least once, and 72% of missing dementia patients found alive are located within the first 24 hours. Separately, search and rescue data compiled by the City of Wheaton Social Services shows that 94% of people with cognitive conditions who wander on foot are found within 1.5 miles of where they were last seen, making immediate, localized searching especially critical.
New Orleans has seen Silver Alerts resolve safely before. In January, police located 84-year-old Malcolm Flot safe after a statewide alert was issued when he disappeared with a medical condition causing disorientation, Hoodline reported at the time. Anyone with information on Lamenda Ancar's whereabouts is urged to call 911 or reach out to the New Orleans Police Department.
