A 71-year-old St. Pete Beach man with memory issues has been missing since Wednesday morning, prompting a Local Silver Alert from county deputies who describe him as an endangered adult. Paul Belyea was last seen around 11 a.m. Wednesday near his home on 43rd Avenue, and he has no vehicle, meaning he is believed to be traveling on foot somewhere on the small barrier island he calls home.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office issued the alert for Belyea, who lives at 245 43rd Avenue in St. Pete Beach, according to a report from the Tampa Free Press. Deputies describe him as 5 feet 11 inches tall and about 165 pounds, with long gray hair pulled into a ponytail and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a denim shirt with a khaki collar and elbow pads, and grey or tan boat shoes.
Belyea struggles with memory issues, and authorities have classified him as a missing and endangered adult, the outlet reports. Investigators note he frequently walks west toward the nearby beach from his neighborhood, a detail that may help guide searchers combing the area. Authorities have entered his information into the Florida Crime Information Center database and are urging anyone who spots him or has information about his whereabouts to call local law enforcement immediately.
Why a Local Alert, Not a Statewide One
Belyea's case was classified as a Local Silver Alert rather than a Statewide Silver Alert because he has no vehicle and is believed to be on foot. Under Florida Department of Law Enforcement guidelines, statewide Silver Alerts are reserved for missing people traveling in a motor vehicle, since the system relies on dynamic highway message signs displaying vehicle details, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Missing adults on foot instead trigger local searches, media outreach, and database entries managed by local agencies.
That database entry is not optional or open-ended. Chapter 937 of the Florida Statutes addresses missing adults, as noted in a statutory analysis published by the Florida Senate. Agencies are required to submit information about missing endangered persons to the Florida Crime Information Center. That database entry helps explain coordination between deputies and the community once Belyea's endangered status was confirmed.
Searching a 2.2-Square-Mile Island
St. Pete Beach sits on Long Key, a barrier island covering just 2.2 square miles that is reachable from the mainland by only three causeway bridges, according to U.S. Census Bureau land area data. That confined geography narrows the search radius for deputies but also means a person on foot has limited routes off the island. St. Pete Beach does not run its own municipal police department; instead, it is one of 13 contract municipalities that rely on the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Patrol Operations Bureau for primary law enforcement, which is why county deputies are leading the search rather than a local city force.
The island's demographics add urgency to cases like Belyea's. Census data shows 38.5% of St. Pete Beach residents were 65 or older in 2020. That concentration of older residents means wandering incidents involving memory loss are a recurring concern for local deputies and families alike.
Wandering Risk and Tools for Families
The Alzheimer's Association reports that 60% of people living with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia will wander away from safety at least once, underscoring why quick alerts and rapid database entry matter so much in cases like this. Florida has the second-highest number of Alzheimer's cases in the nation, with an estimated 580,000 residents living with the condition, according to the Florida Department of Elder Affairs.
To help locate residents with cognitive impairments quickly, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office uses wearable radio-frequency tracking technology through SafetyNet and Project Lifesaver, which the agency says has achieved average search recovery times of under 30 minutes for enrolled participants. Anyone with information about Belyea's whereabouts should contact local law enforcement.
Belyea's disappearance follows a similar case just weeks earlier in neighboring St. Petersburg, where police searched for a missing 99-year-old driver. Belyea was located safe, and the active search ended.
