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Lawmakers To Consider Creating Silver Alert For Seniors
News channel 8 photo by WALLY PATANOW
Mary Lallucci, daughter of Mary Zelter, addresses Gus Bilirakis' Silver Alert Press Conference.
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Published: June 3, 2008
Updated: 06/03/2008 03:50 pm
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Mary Gill Zelter
PALM HARBOR - After leaving her adult care center Feb. 26, Mary Gill Zelter was found dead in the Intracoastal Waterway, the victim of an apparent accidental drowning.
The case of the 86-year-old Largo woman with dementia is the inspiration behind legislative efforts to create a Silver Alert system designed to help locate missing and endangered older adults.
U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, and state lawmakers gathered this morning to discuss federal and state plans to bring a Silver Alert system to Florida, which leads the nation in the number of residents 65 or older.
Bilirakis drafted a bill after the disappearance of Zelter, who walked away from Regal Palms assisted living facility and later drove away in her Chrysler Sebring convertible. Her body and submerged car were found a week later in the Intracoastal Waterway near a boat ramp in Clearwater.
"We need to get this done now," Bilirakis said. "We know the silver alert programs works, based upon the experience of states with established Silver Alert systems. Lives can and must be saved."
Zelter's daughter, Mary Lallucci of Belleair, also spoke at the news conference, held at St. Mark Village, an assisted living facility at 2655 Nebraska Ave. Lallucci has called for a Silver Alert program, saying such a system "could have found my mother, could have saved our tragedy."
"It was terrible," she said. "We were up all night. My husband and I drove all night long throughout all of Clearwater and all the places that were familiar to her. I just kept thinking ... you hear all these stories and everyone always has their loved ones come back. And I really thought that would be my story as well."
The Silver Alert would be patterned after the national Amber Alert system, which quickly distributes information about kidnapped children and their abductors to the public via radio, television and electronic highway signs.
In the Tampa Bay area, many of the tools are already in place. The electronic signs such as those along Interstate-275, the Veterans Expressway and Dale Mabry Highway that are used to post Amber Alerts could also be used to post Silver alerts.
Texas, Michigan, Illinois, Colorado and North Carolina have adopted Silver Alert notification systems, according to Bilirakis' office. Other states, including Ohio and Maryland, are working on Silver Alert legislation.
News Channel 8 reporter Yolanda Fernandez contributfed to this report. Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.
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