A Silver Alert is active for 71-year-old Ricky Ward, who was last seen leaving his home in the Granville area on Friday, Sept. 18, in the afternoon. Investigators say Ward has a medical condition that could make it hard for him to get home safely, and he may be driving a 2016 gray Hyundai Elantra with temporary tags.
The Jackson County Sheriff's Office issued the alert after Ward went missing, according to WZTV. Ward is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, about 175 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray t-shirt, blue jeans, and a Nike baseball hat, a detail also recorded in the official Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Silver Alert bulletin.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Jackson County Sheriff's Office at 931-268-0180 or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
A Rural Peninsula Surrounded by Water
Granville, where Ward was last seen, is a small unincorporated community in Jackson County, Tennessee, that sits on a peninsula bounded on three sides by Cordell Hull Lake along the Cumberland River, according to a description compiled by Taking The Kids. The community is described as isolated, with roads narrowing near town, factors that can shape how ground searches unfold. The Jackson County Sheriff's Office, headquartered in nearby Gainesboro, serves a rural county of roughly 11,000 residents with about 14 sworn officers, per data compiled by Discover Policing.
How Tennessee's Silver Alert System Works
Under Tennessee Code § 38-6-121, a Silver Alert can be issued for missing adults 60 or older who are in danger due to health or age, for people with documented dementia at any age, or for adults 18 and older with physical or intellectual impairments, as detailed by Justia Law. The same statute requires the TBI to coordinate with local police to broadcast alert details to designated statewide media outlets within 12 hours of notification of the missing citizen, according to FindLaw.
Tennessee's Silver Alert system operates under TBI oversight.
Why Wandering Poses Such High Risk
Roughly 60 percent of people with dementia wander. Silver Alerts underscore how quickly a disoriented person can end up far from home or in serious danger.
Residents can help speed up reporting in cases like Ward's by contacting authorities immediately. Officials continue to urge anyone who spots Ward or his gray Hyundai Elantra with temporary tags to call authorities immediately.
