Sebring police are searching for a missing and endangered 73-year-old woman who vanished from her home on Palm Boulevard Thursday afternoon, and investigators say they don't yet know whether she left on foot or in a vehicle. Mary Gavigan was last seen in the area of Palm Boulevard at around 3:52 p.m., wearing a pink shirt, black leggings, and white flip-flops.
According to the Tampa Bay 28, the Sebring Police Department said Gavigan left her residence on Palm Boulevard on Thursday, and officers have not determined how she was traveling. Police are also trying to identify a man who may have information pertinent to the investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact 1-800-226-TIPS, the tip line for Heartland Crime Stoppers. The organization is an independent, citizen-directed nonprofit that serves Polk, Highlands, and Hardee counties, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, handling anonymous tips and offering cash rewards for information that helps close cases like this one.
Why Missing Senior Cases Carry Extra Urgency
Within Sebring itself, 30.13% of residents are over 65.
That demographic reality helps explain why Florida built a formal alert system for cases like this. Resolution data published by the Florida Sheriffs Association indicates that roughly 60% of people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or related memory impairments will wander away from home or care at least once during their illness. Florida's Silver Alert Plan, created by executive order under Governor Charlie Crist in October 2008 and later codified into state statute in 2011, exists specifically to help law enforcement broadcast information quickly when older residents go missing under such circumstances.
State Criteria and Resources Available to Local Police
A Local Silver Alert can be activated for missing individuals aged 60 or older, or for adults 18 to 59 who lack capacity due to a verified irreversible deterioration of intellectual faculties such as Alzheimer's disease or dementia, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It remains unclear whether Sebring police have formally requested activation of a Silver Alert in Gavigan's case.
The state also provides guidance on filing missing person reports.
Local Police Structure and Past Coordination
The City of Sebring provides information about the Sebring Police Department. During an August shooting that shut down the parkway, the department responded alongside the Sebring Fire Department, according to the report.
No update has been provided on whether search efforts for Gavigan have expanded beyond the Palm Boulevard area, and police have not said what specific role the unidentified man may have played, if any, in her disappearance. Anyone with information about Gavigan's whereabouts or the identity of the man police are seeking is urged to call the tip line referenced above.
