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New Alert System Sought

Set of Planned Responses Would be Activated Under Plan

Posted: 5:16 am EDT June 15, 2004Updated: 5:48 am EDT June 15, 2004

The Atlanta City Council could implement an alert system for Alzheimer's patients who wander away from home, a proposal supported by the family of an elderly northwest Atlanta woman who has been missing for nearly two months.

Mattie Moore

Councilwoman Felicia Moore, who represents District 9, said she plans to introduce legislation soon that would activate a "Mattie's Call" if dementia patients go missing. The council's Public Safety Committee is expected to discuss the proposal at its meeting Tuesday.

The proposal is named after Mattie Moore, an Alzheimer's patient who has not been seen since she walked away from her home April 21 on Sisk Street near Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and Center Hill Drive. Her family and police have mounted massive searches for her to no avail.

The woman's husband, Jesse, said he supports the idea.

"I'm hoping that if it passes we can get things moving a lot faster," he said.

The alert system, modeled after the state's Levi's Call system, would automatically trigger a set of responses for police and other city agents. Councilwoman Moore, who is not related to the missing woman but represents the area where she lived, said the proposal would combine coordination with local news media and MARTA.

"We will be working to coordinate with the emergency alert system and others to be able to get it automatically (activated) like a Levi's Call," the councilwoman said.

Levi's Call is the statewide alert system for missing children and is named after Levi Frady, a missing Forsyth County boy who was found dead.

Relatives said Mattie Moore was wearing an identification necklace and a bracelet with her name on it. The woman is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds. Anyone with information is asked to call Atlanta police.

Her family members said they support the idea and suggested that a more coordinated response by police and the city could have aided the effort to find Moore immediately after she disappeared.

More than 170,000 Georgians, including 58,000 metro Atlanta residents, have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, a brain disease that causes gradual memory loss. Former U.S. President Ronald Reagen, who was laid to rest last week, also suffered from the condition.

The Alzheimer's Association of Georgia has expressed support for the alert system.

"Public awareness is very important to let everybody know that somebody is missing in their community," said Alice Prioletti, a spokeswoman for the group.

Channel 2 Action News reporter Tom Jones contributed to this report.

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