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Published: 2012-10-10 05:18:00
Updated: 2012-10-10 19:23:51

Raleigh man found safe in Durham following Silver Alert


Ray Williams Jr
Ray Williams Jr
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Raleigh police on Wednesday suspended their search for a missing 23-year-old man after he was found safe in Durham.

Authorities issued a Silver Alert Oct. 4 for Ray Williams, who, according to his mother Carnell Shuler, suffers from schizophrenia.

Shuler says that she last saw Williams two days earlier when he left their home on Louisburg Road for the day with $3 in bus fare and no medication.

She said Wednesday that her son has been at Durham Regional Hospital for his mental disorder since Oct. 2.

In a brief conversation that she had with her son, Shuler said, a Wake County sheriff's deputy took him to the hospital. She's unsure why the hospital never contacted anyone in light of the Silver Alert.

A hospital spokeswoman declined to talk about Williams' case but said that staff doesn't generally check Silver Alerts unless law enforcement ask that they do so.

Jim Sughrue, a spokesman for the Raleigh Police Department, said that both the police officer and detective assigned to Williams' case checked for him at numerous places, including Raleigh hospitals and mental health facilities.

"There was nothing in the information that was provide or that was developed during the course of the follow-up investigation that linked the missing person to Durham or suggested he might have left Wake County," Sughrue said in an email.

"He was reported to have no means of transportation and no money," Sughrue added.

Developed in 2007, the Silver Alert system quickly notifies the public about missing, endangered adults who suffer from dementia or other cognitive impairments, such as Alzheimer's disease.

It also allows caregivers and nursing homes to report a person missing. In the past, only a family member could report an adult missing.


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hippa goes too far, especially with respect to mentally ill people. One of my sons had a period of severe depression shortly after he turned 18. The meds he was given resulted in months of less than rational behavior as he recovered from depression. Physicians & hospitals would barely talk to us until we finally got him to sign a health care power of attorney when he was being released to our care from one of his hospital stays. Something to discuss with your family if you have a mental illness or if you're approaching an age where your mental facilities might start slipping away. It's good to have someone you trust be able to act for you when your own decision-making ability is impaired.

Okay so the silver alerts are not sent to hospitals? So all of us get slammed with this information and the likelihood we run into one of these folks is slim to none. However, a hospital is where one would take a mentally challenged person if you were a good citizen. It makes this system seem like a joke if hospitals aren't even taking note of them......

Recent article about the extent and effort RPD went to recover the wallet of one of their own left at Food Lion (ghetto lion)compared to this.

Has anybody ever been located b/c of one of these stories? Or are they found b/c his family is looking for them?

I felt so badly for his mother. I have a special needs adult son and would be out of my mind if he was missing. I'm so glad this has a happy ending.

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