Cincinnati police are asking the public for help finding an 18-year-old autistic man who went missing from the Evanston neighborhood this week. Donnell Adams was last seen near Gilbert Avenue and Dixmont Avenue after he walked away from his mother's home while playing outside, according to police.
Police say Adams disappeared on Tuesday evening, September 29, as reported by FOX19. He was last wearing a black Nike hat, a black Nike hoodie with the Nike logo, black jeans and dark-colored shoes. According to the Cincinnati Police Department's missing persons database, Adams is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 132 pounds, and the disappearance was logged from the 3000 block of Gilbert Avenue in the city's 45207 ZIP code.
A regional alert bulletin from The AWARE Foundation added further detail, noting that Adams was seen running down Gilbert Avenue at around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday after leaving his mother's home at 3257 Gilbert Avenue. The foundation circulated the alert to help mobilize public search efforts in the hours after he was reported missing.
Why Ohio Treats This Case Differently
Because Adams is an adult with autism, his case falls under a distinct legal framework in Ohio. Under Ohio Revised Code Section 2901.41, known as Jonathan's Law, an adult 18 or older with a mental or physical disability is classified as a missing person. For missing people ages 18 to under 21, Section 2901.42(A) requires immediate report-taking and entry into the National Crime Information Center database, according to the Ohio Attorney General's office.
Separately, Ohio Revised Code Section 5502.522 establishes a statewide alert program with specific activation criteria and permits local or regional emergency alert programs to use different criteria, per the Ohio General Assembly. It remains unclear whether that alert was formally activated in Adams' case.
Police District
Evanston falls under Cincinnati Police District 2, which covers the neighborhood and adjacent East Side areas following a department restructuring that consolidated patrol divisions.
