A 76-year-old Williamston woman with diabetes and dementia has been missing since Thursday morning, and Anderson County deputies say they still don't have a clothing description or a direction of travel to guide their search. Altagracia Evangelista Nunez was last seen around 7 a.m. near Martin Court, according to the Anderson County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies say Nunez has reported diagnoses of diabetes and dementia, though her current physical and mental state is unknown, as reported by WYFF. Investigators have not been able to say what she was wearing when she disappeared or which direction she may have gone, a gap that complicates efforts to narrow the search area around the small Anderson County town.
A Search Complicated by Missing Details
Without a clothing description or travel direction, deputies are relying heavily on tips from residents near Martin Court and the surrounding Williamston area. The Anderson County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information to call 864-260-4400. Williamston itself is a compact, rural-suburban town of roughly 3.7 square miles and about 4,043 residents in northeastern Anderson County, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures, a factor that could work in searchers' favor if Nunez has stayed close to familiar ground.
People can also share information anonymously at any hour through the South Carolina Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-888-CRIME-SC, which the Anderson County Sheriff's Office operates around the clock for missing person investigations.
Why the First Hours Matter So Much
National research underscores why time is critical in cases like this one. About six in ten people living with dementia will wander away from safety at least once, often disoriented or trying to retrace a past routine, according to the Alzheimer's Association. A CivicPlus guidance blog post cites an estimate that, if a wandering senior isn't located within 24 hours, up to half suffer serious injury or death from exposure or medical complications — a risk compounded in Nunez's case by her reported diabetes.
Search and rescue research out of the University of Florida found that most missing individuals with dementia turn up close to where they disappeared: 37% are found within a mile, and 49% within one to five miles, often in nearby yards or on public streets, according to UF Health. That pattern supports immediate searches concentrated within five miles of a last known location, such as the Martin Court area.
No Waiting Period for Vulnerable Adults
Families sometimes assume police must wait 24 hours before investigating a missing adult, but that is not the case when dementia or memory loss is involved. Guidelines published through the Alzheimer's Association make clear that law enforcement agencies do not enforce any such waiting period for cognitively impaired individuals, according to Guideposts. South Carolina also maintains a statewide Silver Alert System housed within the Missing Person Information Center at the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, designed to rapidly broadcast alerts when someone with dementia or another cognitive impairment goes missing, per the South Carolina State Library's digital archive of state law.
South Carolina officers also receive specialized training for these exact situations. The South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy maintains crisis response modules developed with the Alzheimer's Association that focus specifically on handling Alzheimer's and dementia missing-person cases, according to the academy's own institutional provider catalog.
Nunez's disappearance is the latest in a string of missing-senior cases Anderson County deputies have handled in recent weeks. In September, deputies searched for 61-year-old Glenys Aileen Quinn after she was reported missing and designated as endangered near East Shockley Ferry Road. That same month, they also searched for 76-year-old Susan Work Legg after she went missing from Sadlers Creek State Park in a camper van. Anyone with information on Altagracia Evangelista Nunez's whereabouts is urged to contact the Anderson County Sheriff's Office.
