A Silver Alert is being issued for Carrie Bell Vaughn, 75, who went missing near the intersection of Highway 11 and County Road 290 earlier today.
“Around 12:30 this afternoon, deputies received a call about a vehicle in a ditch on County Road 290 at the intersection of Highway 11. Upon arrival, deputies noticed that the vehicle sitting off in the ditch was a red Isuzu SUV with a Jasper County tag,” explained Clarke County Sheriff Todd Kemp. “Deputies spoke with family members at the scene, and the described the lady that allegedly owned the car. She was nowhere to be found.”
Deputies conducted a search to locate Ms. Vaughn.
“Deputies did conduct a search of the area. They talked with neighbors across the road from the house,” continued Kemp. “The neighbors indicated that they saw the lady at about 3:30 this morning outside of the vehicle and that she was distraught, very angry. She stated that someone had run her off the road. They assumed she was going to go back and get somebody to come help her, but she never reached out to them at their house for any help. At that point, deputies contacted emergency management and myself, and other deputies responded to the scene to try and locate her.”
She lives in Jasper County, only a quarter mile from the location of her vehicle, so she went missing within a mile of her home. Law enforcement have searched her home but haven’t located her yet, which is very concerning due to the weather and a history of impaired judgement.
“Myself and Jasper County authorities went to her house and did a search at her house, but she was not at her house. This leads us to believe that she was picked up or has wandered off from this accident scene,” informed Kemp. “We do believe that she has a history of dementia or something and may be off her medicine. Being off her medicine may be a reason for her impaired judgement at this point, and we’re concerned about that. We’re also concerned about the weather conditions out there. With her being 75 years old and out in the weather like this since it’s been raining all day could be a problem if she’s out wandering in the woods. Hypothermia could be a major factor in that.”
Clarke County Emergency Management is also assisting in the efforts to locate Ms. Vaughn.
“We put a bulletin out through our mass notification system from the scene today. We dropped a pin out on the Town of Pachuta and went out 10 miles in all directions. Every phone in that area received a voice message about Ms. Vaughn missing and was given phone numbers to call if they found out anything,” expressed Clarke County Emergency Management Director David Sharp. “Right now we’re reaching out further in hopes that somebody will know something and call us. Other than that, we’re lost right now because there’s nothing to indicate which way she walked away in or anybody that she may have ridden away with. We’re hoping we can get some information that can lead us in a way to go. If nothing comes in tonight or by tomorrow, we’ll possibly start looking at doing a ground search in that area in case she wandered off in the woods and became incapacitated.”
Authorities ask the communities to please call and notify them if they have any information that could help in locating Carrie Bell Vaughn. Anyone with information can call 601-274-0115 or 601-776-1385 to report it to dispatch.
