Raleigh man found safe in Durham following Silver Alert

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.