Mobile Police Search for 68-Year-Old Man With Alzheimer’s Reported Missing

Mobile police are asking for the public’s help locating a 68-year-old man in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease who was reported missing from his home. Family members say Paul Rogers wandered away wearing a burgundy sweatshirt, grey pants and blue-and-grey shoes.

Authorities have not said when Rogers was last seen or in what part of the city he lives, and no vehicle has been connected to his disappearance. What is clear from the department’s appeal is the urgency that attaches to any missing person case involving dementia, when a resident may be unable to ask for help, remember an address or find his way home once disoriented.

Officers with the Mobile Police Department are canvassing the area associated with the report and circulating the description to patrol units across the city. Department officials say tips from residents — a sighting by a neighbor, a motorist, a delivery driver — resolve a large share of missing elderly person cases, often within hours of the public appeal going out.

Why time matters

People with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are among the most vulnerable missing person categories police handle. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that six in ten people with dementia will wander at least once, and many will wander repeatedly. Once away from familiar surroundings, a person in cognitive decline may not respond to their own name being called, may hide from searchers, and may keep walking until stopped by an obstacle or exhaustion.

Search experts note that disoriented older adults frequently stay near roads, fences, drainages and other linear features, and often travel in a straight line until something blocks the way. Weather exposure is a serious concern in every season on the Gulf Coast, where summer heat and humidity can bring on dehydration and heat illness within hours and winter nights can drop into dangerous territory for an elderly person outdoors.

The description released

Police released a limited description of Rogers: 68 years old, in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, last seen wearing a burgundy sweatshirt, grey pants and blue-and-grey shoes. The department has not released a photograph or specified a neighborhood, and investigators have not said whether foul play is suspected. In wandering cases, authorities generally emphasize that the person left on foot and may be confused rather than in danger from anyone else.

Residents across Mobile who encounter an elderly person who appears lost or disoriented are encouraged to stay with the individual if it is safe to do so, offer reassurance, and call police rather than trying to redirect the person alone. Someone in cognitive decline may resist direction from strangers, and a 911 call brings trained officers who know how to approach and transport them safely.

How police search for missing elders

When a report like this comes in, Mobile police typically open with an immediate area canvass, checking the missing person’s home, known walking routes and the yards of nearby neighbors. Patrol officers broadcast the description department-wide, and detectives coordinate with the department’s communications section to log every sighting report that comes in through the tip line.

Larger searches can draw on additional resources, including police helicopters with thermal cameras, K-9 units trained in tracking, and in some cases search-and-rescue volunteers from area agencies. Departments across Alabama also coordinate with the state’s missing person alert systems when a case meets the criteria, getting descriptions out to media outlets and onto highway message boards to multiply the number of eyes looking.

Family members are usually asked to secure the missing person’s home, preserve any notes or items suggesting a destination, and stay reachable by phone. Investigators remind families to check places tied to the person’s past — former workplaces, churches, old neighborhoods — because people with dementia sometimes travel toward routines and places from decades earlier rather than recent ones.

Alzheimer’s on the Gulf Coast

The search comes against the backdrop of a growing dementia population across Alabama and the nation. More than 95,000 Alabamians age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s disease according to the Alzheimer’s Association, a number projected to climb as the state’s population ages. Mobile County, one of the state’s largest counties by population, counts a significant share of those residents, and area agencies on aging report rising demand for caregiver support services.

Local resources exist for families navigating the disease. The Alzheimer’s Association’s Alabama chapter runs a 24-hour helpline, caregiver education sessions and support groups that meet in Mobile and Baldwin County, and the Area Agency on Aging for southwest Alabama connects families with respite care, meal programs and benefits counseling. Safe-return style programs, which provide engraved identification bracelets for people with dementia, give police a fast way to identify a found person and contact family.

How to help

Police are urging anyone who may have seen Rogers or who has information on his whereabouts to call the Mobile Police Department at 251-208-7211. Callers should be prepared to give the time and place of any sighting, the direction the person was traveling, and any details about his condition when seen. Even sightings that seem minor — a man matching the description at a convenience store or bus stop — can help investigators build a picture of his movements.

Residents can also help by checking their own properties. Porches, sheds, backyard storage areas and vehicles left unlocked are among the most common places disoriented wanderers are found, sometimes blocks from home and many hours after they were last seen. Anyone with a security camera or doorbell camera is asked to review overnight footage for anyone matching the description.

Prevention for other families

Advocates use cases like this one to remind caregivers of practical steps that reduce wandering risk. Keeping daily routines consistent, disguising exits, placing locks out of the line of sight of doors, and using door chimes or alarms overnight all help. Enrolling a loved one in a medical identification program and keeping a recent photograph and clothing description on hand shortens the time it takes police to launch a search when a report does come in.

The Alzheimer’s Association also recommends that caregivers prepare a one-page information sheet — physical description, medical conditions, medications, known destinations — that can be handed straight to responding officers. In a search, the first hour matters most, and families who arrive with that sheet save investigators precious minutes.

The appeal continues

For now, the Mobile Police Department’s appeal for Paul Rogers remains active, and officers continue to follow up on sighting reports as they come in. The department’s non-emergency line at 251-208-7211 is staffed around the clock, and officials say tips — no matter how uncertain — are always worth the call when the subject is a missing elderly resident.

Anyone who locates a person matching Rogers’ description should not attempt to restrain or follow him for long distances. The safest response, police say, is to keep the person in view from a respectful distance and call 911 immediately so officers can respond with the right training and transportation.

What happens after the alert

If Rogers is located, the standard practice is for officers to evaluate his condition on scene and arrange medical assessment when needed before reuniting him with family. First responders are trained to treat a found dementia patient for dehydration, exposure and disorientation, and hospital evaluation is common even when the person appears unharmed, because falls and medication lapses during a wandering episode are not always obvious.

Each case also feeds into the department’s longer-term approach to elderly residents at risk. Officers who respond to repeated wandering reports can refer families to social service partners, and departments across the region keep registries of vulnerable residents so a description entered into the system triggers an immediate flag for patrol crews. Families in Mobile can ask the department about such programs when they file the initial report.

Patterns in wandering cases

Experience from search operations across the Gulf South has produced a reliable profile of wandering behavior. Episodes often cluster in the late afternoon and early evening, when fading light compounds confusion, and many wanderers are found within a mile of home. Water is a persistent hazard: drainage canals, retention ponds, creeks and the mobile area’s bayous claim a disproportionate number of dementia fatalities, which is why search teams prioritize waterways early.

Season matters too. In south Alabama’s long warm season, a night outdoors can mean dangerous heat and insect exposure even in winter months that stay mild. Search coordinators treat every missing dementia report as time-critical regardless of weather, because the window for a safe recovery narrows quickly with each passing hour.

The community’s role

Mobile’s neighborhood organizations have proven effective multipliers in missing person cases. Civic clubs, church groups and neighborhood associations with active email lists and social media pages can push a description to thousands of residents within minutes, and police credit those networks with several successful recoveries in recent years. Residents who share appeals are asked to use official descriptions only and to route any tips to the police number rather than attempting independent searches.

The search for Paul Rogers remains active. Anyone with information is asked to call the Mobile Police Department at 251-208-7211.