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Letter: Utah now has a Silver Alert System

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Governor Gary Herbert at a news conference in Salt Lake City on Wednesday July 10, 2019.

When Gov. Gary Herbert signed HB215, he indicated that he hears aging people of Utah. With the signing of this bill, Utah now has the Silver Alert System.

Similar to the Amber Alert, the Silver Alert system alerts the public when someone in the community has gone missing. With Silver Alert, this person is a loved one 60 years of age or older diagnosed with dementia. We are the 29th state to sign this bill into law. It would seem the time was overdue.

One of the tragedies that helped spread this law across the nation was a woman who drove away from her nursing home and went missing for over a week before her body and car were found in a waterway.

With this bill now in place, our loved ones here in Utah are a little safer than they were last year. Let us continue to focus on the safety of the biggest growing population here in the state.

Chandice Commeree, Salt Lake City

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