Law officers say there weren't sufficient data for the Alzheimer's patient, who was later found in a hospital

A new law establishing an Amber Alert for Texas seniors was designed for people like Mary Ross, an Alzheimer's patient who wandered away from a medical facility on the South Loop a week ago.

But the new system, called the Silver Alert in the case of missing senior citizens, was never activated for Ross because the officers involved in the investigation said they weren't given enough information about the missing woman.

Patterned after the Amber Alert that is activated when a child is abducted or reported missing, the new program unleashes an informational blitz whenever an elderly person with a diagnosed mental impairment disappears.

In Ross' case, said Sgt. Gilbert Phillips with the Harris County Precinct 2 Constable's Office, "all we had was basically a 77-year-old black woman with no picture, no clothing description and no physical description."

On Tuesday, the same day that Phillips found Ross safe in The Methodist Hospital, a Silver Alert was activated for the first time in the Houston area.

Information about Thomas Jerry Tucker, 74, was posted on electronic roadside signs and sent by e-mail to law enforcement agencies and the media. Sgt. Dana Mackey with the Harris County Sheriff's Office, said Tucker had apparently driven off to change the oil in his car and had gotten lost. He safely returned six hours later.

The Silver Alert law, which was passed last spring, took effect Sept. 1.

Five Silver Alerts have been posted across Texas since then — four in the Dallas area and the one for Tucker in Houston. All but one of the elderly people were found safe, said Tela Mange, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the fifth was found dead. Of the four cases with a happy ending, she said, the Silver Alert was not a factor.

Since the Amber Alert was enacted in 2002, DPS has sent out alerts involving 41 missing children, Mange said. Of those, 38 were safely recovered, including at least 11 because of the alert. Two children are still missing, and one was found dead.

Mange believes the alert system can be a life-saving tool for the elderly. "We just don't want people to get blasé and start tuning it out," she said.

Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch, shares Mange's concerns. The mounted search and recovery team receives about 15 calls concerning lost elderly people for every one it gets about missing children, he said.

Under the law, authorities can activate a Silver Alert if the missing person is at least 65, lives in Texas and has an impaired mental condition documented by a medical or mental health professional.

Ana Guerrero with the Alzheimer's Association of Houston and Southeast Texas chapter, said more than 120,000 people in the area have Alzheimer's or related dementia. Her organization has been trying to educate law enforcement agencies about the law.

Phillips, with the Precinct 2 Constable's Office, said the officer who filed the missing person report on Ross was aware of the law. But he said that Gloria Imo, the owner of the assisted-living facility where Ross lived, was unable to provide a picture or a description of the missing woman.

Imo, who owns Tender Touch Assisted Living, disputes Phillips' account and says she gave a description and offered a picture but that the officer didn't take it.

Imo's facility in southeast Harris County is under investigation by the state Department of Aging and Disability Services, which regulates facilities for the elderly.

Ross remained in Methodist on Wednesday, six days after she wandered from Harris Healthcare Group on South Loop West, where she had been taken for a doctor's appointment.

Carolyn Gebhardt, who works in the parts department at Russell and Smith Honda on the South Loop, said she found Ross lying in the parking lot about midafternoon Thursday. She said the woman knew her name but seemed disoriented. Gebhardt said she called an ambulance, and Ross asked to be taken to Methodist.

The woman's assisted-living facility, however, did not report her missing until late Friday.

Ross' granddaughter, Melonie Tankersley, said Wednesday that her grandmother was in good spirits and was recovering from her ordeal. She said she and her family plan to find another assisted-living facility for her grandmother when she is released from the hospital. "No one should have to go through this, ever," Tankersley said.