South Carolina created an Endangered Person Advisory two years ago for cases that do not meet the AMBER Alert criteria. Now South Carolina State Representative Rita Allison says more must be done to inform the public about this life-saving tool. In a February 17 column in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, she wrote that many people know someone elderly who suffers from dementia or Alzheimer's disease, and that these conditions can lead individuals to wander off or drive off and become hopelessly lost, often ending in tragedy because authorities do not have enough personnel to adequately search for them.
The Endangered Person Advisory is designed to supplement law enforcement's eyes when searching for one of these individuals. Allison wrote that broadcasting this information alerts the public to be on the lookout for the missing person, and that putting thousands of additional eyes on the streets, highways and sidewalks increases the possibility of a successful recovery and a happier ending to an unfortunate situation.