Gold Alert Signed Into Law

 Senator John A. DeFrancisco (R-I-C Syracuse) announced that today Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law his “Gold Alert” bill (S3293B) to assist in locating vulnerable missing adults. 

The “Amber Alert” infrastructure, which is already in place, will be used to disseminate information about missing vulnerable adults through a statewide system, using a variety of resources, including television and radio stations, posters, highway message signs, New York State Thruway Authority services areas, e-mail alerts, and the Internet, in hopes of engaging the public in finding leads to locate the missing individual. 

“In 2007 an elderly Syracuse woman who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease left her home in the middle of the night and traveled all the way to her former home in New Haven, Connecticut,” said Senator DeFrancisco. 

“Authorities weren’t alerted that the woman was missing until after she discovered someone else living in her former home. This incident and several others like it demonstrate the need for an alert system to assist in the search for missing vulnerable adults.” 

“The ‘Amber Alert’ system has been a great resource to help law enforcement locate missing children, and I believe that the Gold Alert system would be a very useful tool as well.” 

The law will take effect in 90 days.