A Silver Alert is out for a 56-year-old Oakland woman last seen near Seventh and Chester streets just before 6:30 p.m. on Monday, wearing a white hoodie and gray sweatpants and carrying a distinctive pink backpack. Margartia Vasquez Hernandez has not been seen since, and authorities say she could now be anywhere across a wide swath of California.
The California Highway Patrol released the alert on Tuesday, according to SFGATE. Hernandez is described as Hispanic, 5 feet 1 inch tall, weighing about 190 pounds, with burgundy hair and brown eyes.
Investigators say Hernandez could be in Alameda, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento or Riverside counties, a range that spans much of the state from the Bay Area to Southern California. The breadth of that search zone underscores how little is currently known about where she may have gone after last being spotted in Oakland.
Alert Originated With Riverside County Sheriff's Office
The missing-persons alert was originally generated by the Riverside County Sheriff's Office before the CHP issued the regional Silver Alert, the outlet's report notes. Anyone who sees Hernandez or has information about her whereabouts is asked to call 911 immediately.
California maintains several categories of public safety alerts beyond the Silver Alert, including those for missing children and endangered individuals, according to the California Highway Patrol, which also keeps a running list of all active statewide alerts. A separate CHP criteria excerpt indicates that Silver Alerts are generally tied to missing people who are 65 or older, developmentally disabled or cognitively impaired, and whose disappearance is considered unexplained or suspicious after local resources have already been used, though the full eligibility requirements were not available in the material reviewed.
What Searchers Are Looking For
For now, the clearest identifying details remain Hernandez's clothing and the pink backpack she was carrying when last seen in Oakland. No additional description, such as a vehicle or photograph, has been made public alongside the alert.
