An elderly driver reported missing out of Mount Juliet was found safe at a Portland gas station Tuesday, after an automated camera system flagged the car crossing into town just 15 minutes earlier. Portland patrol officers evaluated the driver, and family members who had traveled to Portland were soon reunited with their loved one.
The case began when Mount Juliet Police Department contacted the Portland Police Department about a missing elderly individual believed to possibly be in the Portland area, according to a statement from the Portland TN Police Department. Officers received information about the missing person and the vehicle involved, then used the city's automated license plate reader system to search for the car. Mount Juliet sits roughly 34 driving miles south of Portland, spanning from Wilson County into Sumner County along what is normally about a 45-minute route, according to Distance Between.
Portland's camera network determined the vehicle had entered the city about 15 minutes earlier, helping identify where the car had recently traveled and narrowing the search area for patrol officers. Officers searched the area and located the vehicle at a local gas station, then made contact with the missing individual. Emergency medical personnel evaluated the driver on scene.
How the Camera Network Closed the Gap So Fast
Portland police rely on Flock Safety license plate reader cameras positioned across the municipality to monitor public roadways for stolen vehicles and missing person alerts, per the EFF Atlas of Surveillance. Mount Juliet runs a comparable system, a 50-location network branded Guardian Shield, that cross-references passing license tags against national missing-person hotlists, according to the Mount Juliet, TN Municipal Government. Because both departments use compatible Flock Safety infrastructure, a tag entered into that hotlist in one jurisdiction can trigger an alert the moment it passes a camera in another, even across county lines.
That speed is not accidental. Tennessee law under T.C.A. § 38-6-121 requires local agencies to enter verified missing elderly or cognitively impaired adults into the National Crime Information Center database within four hours of completing verification, per Justia Law. Once Mount Juliet's report reached that database, Portland's cameras were positioned to catch the match almost immediately after the vehicle crossed into town.
A Statewide Pattern of Fast Recoveries
Portland police were notified by Mount Juliet police that the missing individual had been safely located, and the department in turn expressed gratitude for the positive outcome and safe family reunion, crediting the cooperation between the two agencies for the swift resolution. Family members traveled to Portland to be reunited with the individual once the search concluded.
The case fits a broader statewide trend. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reported in February that its Silver Alert program, run with Alzheimer's Tennessee, has safely located and returned more than 500 missing individuals since expanded guidelines took effect in 2021, maintaining a success rate above 90 percent, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Alzheimer's Tennessee and medical researchers cited by state officials estimate that roughly six out of 10 people living with Alzheimer's or other dementias will wander from home or caregivers at least once during their illness, as reported by WBIR.
A University of Florida study of 675 missing person cases found fewer than 4 percent of memory-impaired adults who wander from home manage to return unassisted, underscoring why departments treat these calls with urgency. In January 2025, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation rolled out the TBI Find mobile app and SafeSeniorTN.com portal, giving citizens real-time Silver Alerts and helping caregivers build digital profile kits ahead of potential wandering emergencies. Tennessee also designates May as Silver Alert Awareness Month under state law.
Portland's license plate readers have proven useful before. In April, an automated hit alerted patrol officers to a passing vehicle tied to a man wanted on active felony warrants in Williamson and Sumner counties, a case Hoodline covered when police tracked down a wanted suspect through the same camera network.
