A Silver Alert is out for Percy Harris, a 67-year-old man last seen on foot Thursday morning near the intersection of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Vanowen Street in North Hollywood. He was reported missing at 9 a.m. and was last spotted wearing a plaid shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes, according to alert details. Anyone who sees him is asked to call 911.
The California Highway Patrol activated the alert on behalf of the Los Angeles Police Department, as noted in a post from CHP - Alerts, the agency’s official account for sharing details and flyers on active alerts. Harris is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall and 175 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. The post identifies him as an at-risk missing person and credits the LAPD Missing Persons Unit with the case.
California’s Silver Alert system dates back to 2012, when it was created under Senate Bill 1047 and written into state law as California Government Code § 8594.10. The law originally covered missing people 65 or older, or those with cognitive impairments, who are determined to be at risk. A later amendment, Senate Bill 1127, widened eligibility to missing individuals of any age who are developmentally disabled or cognitively impaired, according to LegiScan, a change intended to speed up searches for vulnerable adults regardless of exact age.
How the Alert Moves From LAPD to a Statewide Broadcast
Before a Silver Alert goes out, local agencies like LAPD must confirm specific risk criteria and show they've exhausted local search resources. Only then does the request reach the California Highway Patrol's Emergency Notification and Tactical Alert Center, known as ENTAC, which operates around the clock in Sacramento as the state's designated coordinator for reviewing and issuing these alerts, per the CHP's own alert program.
Internally, LAPD officers face their own clock. Under LAPD Special Order No. 6, investigators opening a Silver Alert case must enter the missing person's information into the National Crime Information Center database within two hours of classification, and a supervisor must sign off on a Public Alert Form, according to LAPD Online. The rapid database entry is meant to ensure law enforcement in other jurisdictions can act on the case immediately.
Cases like Harris's are not rare in Los Angeles. LAPD's Adult Missing Persons Unit investigates roughly 3,200 adult missing person reports each year, and federal statistics cited by the San Fernando Valley News Portal show about 70 percent of reported missing individuals turn up or return voluntarily within 48 to 72 hours. Federal standards also bar police from imposing any mandatory waiting period before accepting a missing person report, the outlet notes.
A Busy North Hollywood Corner
The intersection where Harris was last seen sits within LAPD's North Hollywood Division, which covers San Fernando Valley neighborhoods south of Saticoy Street, according to the Sun Valley Area Neighborhood Council. It's also a well-connected transit corner: LADOT DASH North Hollywood serves the area at Stop 21110, alongside LA Metro Bus Lines 165 and 230, per LADOT Transit. The Valley Plaza Branch Library, which serves nearly 65,000 North Hollywood residents, sits less than a block away at 12311 Vanowen Street, according to the Los Angeles Public Library — the kind of public foot-traffic landmark that often becomes a focal point for ground searches and flyer postings.
Harris's case is the latest in a string of Silver Alerts issued across the San Fernando Valley in recent weeks. Earlier in August, CHP activated an alert for a 79-year-old woman missing on foot near Cahuenga Boulevard and Addison Street, also in North Hollywood. Days later, a similar alert went out for a 63-year-old man missing on foot near Friar Street and Sylvia Avenue in nearby Reseda, part of what Hoodline has tracked as an ongoing pattern of Silver Alerts across adjacent Valley communities.
It remains unclear which direction Harris traveled after he was last seen, or whether he has a diagnosed cognitive condition that prompted the alert's activation. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to call 911 immediately.
