Riverside police are asking for the public's help finding a 28-year-old woman who disappeared near one of the city's busiest medical corridors and is in urgent need of medication. Kristen Preston was last seen around 4:20 p.m. Sunday in the area of 14th Street and Magnolia Avenue, according to police, and has not been located since.
Police describe Preston as autistic, diabetic and gravely disabled, according to KTLA. She is listed as a critical missing person in need of medication, and investigators have released a detailed physical description to help the public identify her: she is 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighs about 100 pounds, and has brown hair and blue eyes. When she was last seen, Preston was wearing a white tank top with blue and white stripes, black leggings and blue shoes.
A Search Centered on a Major Medical Hub
The intersection where Preston vanished sits directly beside Riverside Community Hospital, whose dedicated emergency department ambulance entrance runs along 14th Street, according to Riverside Community Hospital. The hospital campus is in the midst of a $912 million multi-year facility expansion along Magnolia Avenue, adding another layer of activity to the area where she was last seen. The provided source discusses Magnolia Avenue's history and intersections around the Magnolia Center district, according to The Press-Enterprise. That context underscores why investigators are turning to the public for tips.
What California Law Requires Before an Alert Goes Out
Under California Government Code Section 8594.10, a local law enforcement agency may request a regional Silver Alert when it determines that the statutory conditions are met, including that available local resources have been used, the missing individual is in danger or peril, the disappearance occurred under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, and information available to the public could assist in locating the individual, according to FindLaw. California's Silver Alert system covers missing individuals of any age who are developmentally disabled or cognitively impaired, provided they are in imminent peril, according to CalAlerts. Separately, under California Penal Code Section 14205, agencies receiving a missing person report for an at-risk individual are required to enter the record into state and national crime information databases within two hours.
Riverside County agencies also have access to specialized K-9 bloodhound trailing teams trained in scent discrimination, per the Riverside County Sheriff's Office. The available information does not specify whether such a team was deployed in Preston's case.
The Risks Tied to Autism and Wandering
Research cited by the National Autism Association indicates that nearly half of individuals on the autism spectrum attempt to wander, with drowning accounting for 71% of fatal outcomes in documented cases. A separate study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that police are called in 31% of autistic wandering cases, and that 65% of those incidents involve close calls with motor vehicle traffic, according to MDedge. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains public health guidance recognizing wandering and elopement risks, using diagnostic code ICD-10-CM Z91.83 to help clinicians and caregivers document safety plans for individuals with developmental conditions.
Anyone with information on Preston's whereabouts is asked to contact the Riverside Police Department's Public Safety Communications Center at 951-354-2007 and reference her name or report number 260024499.
