What is the Silver Alert? Alzheimer's Disease designed by Luis Prado from the Noun Project Alzheimer’s Disease logo designed by Luis Prado from the Noun Project A Silver Alert is the name for a system to alert the public for a missing person who is particularly vulnerable. Originally named for elderly, silver-haired missing people with various forms of dementia, the Silver Alert has been expanded to include other categories of vulnerable missing people. These include Alzheimer’s disease, which can affect people as young as 40 years old Dementia Developmental disability Cognitive disabilities such as brain injuries Autism and Down Syndrome People with these conditions can experience memory and other cognitive deficits. They may wander away from home, and forget how to get back. They can believe that they are their younger selves, heading for a job they had in the past, or a childhood home. They may not know they are lost, and may not ask for help. People like this can vanish in an urban area and be very difficult to locate. They can perish, metres away from assistance. But because nobody knows they are lost, and they can’t ask for help, there is nobody to help them.