Roanoke Rapids woman is subject of Silver Alert

The N.C. Center for Missing Persons issued a Silver Alert Friday night for Ruth Naomi Wiggins. She was last seen at a gas station on Victory Boulevard in Portsmouth, Va., in a tan 1977 Buick Lesabre with North Carolina license plate VWV5654.

Wiggins, 77, is a black woman with blonde hair and hazel eyes. She is about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs about 175 pounds. She was wearing green and blue pajamas.

Anyone with information about Wiggins is asked to call the Roanoke Rapids Police Department at 252-583-2810.

Developed in 2007, the Silver Alert is a system to quickly notify 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.