A Silver Alert covering Los Angeles, Ventura, and San Bernardino counties is underway for Martha Escruceria, a 79-year-old woman last seen on foot near Cahuenga Boulevard and Addison Street in North Hollywood on Friday morning. Escruceria was last spotted around 9:50 am, according to the alert, and has not been located since. Anyone who sees her is being asked to call 911 immediately.
The California Highway Patrol activated the Silver Alert on behalf of the Los Angeles Police Department, according to CHP – Alerts, which notified the public that CHP was formally notified of the case on Saturday. Escruceria is described as 5 feet 4 inches tall and about 135 pounds, with gray hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing a red sweater, red shorts, and gray shoes.
The intersection where she disappeared sits in a dense residential pocket of North Hollywood near public parks, an area with a Walk Score of 78 out of 100, rated “Very Walkable,” per Walk Score. That kind of walkability cuts both ways in a case like this: it means Escruceria could have covered real ground on foot in multiple directions, through neighborhoods, transit stops, and parkland alike.
How California’s Silver Alert System Works
Silver Alerts in California operate under strict statutory criteria. The program was established by Senate Bill 1047 in 2012 and codified under Government Code § 8594.10, which sets the threshold for issuing a public emergency alert when a missing person is 65 or older, or cognitively impaired, and determined to be at risk, according to the California Highway Patrol. A 2015 amendment, Senate Bill 1127, later expanded eligibility to developmentally disabled or cognitively impaired individuals regardless of age…