BANGOR, Maine — Some police departments across the state are using wandering registries, which are databases that can help identify people who may be prone to wandering, often times with conditions like Autism, Alzheimer's, or old age.
When Linda Lee moved to Belfast with her 14-year-old son with autism, she spoke to police about what can be done if she finds her son missing.
Lee brought a photo of her son and other information to the police department.
This led to a collaboration between Lee, the Belfast Police Department, and the 911 Dispatch Center to create a database for potential wanderers, according to Lee.
The database is a live-action filing system for photographs and information to be on-hand in the event a person prone to wandering goes missing.
Lee says it gives police the ability to potentially recognize someone before their family may even know they're missing.
"I feel an immense peace of mind knowing that he's [her son] in this database, knowing that for some reason if he did go out, that he could be identified even if I didn't know," Lee said.
As of Monday, one known person with Autism is missing, 37-year-old Graham Lacher from Bangor. 16-year-old Asia Brown from Livermore Falls was found safe Monday evening.
Lacher has been missing for almost two months after walking away from a psychiatric center in Bangor.
Last month, NEWS CENTER Maine spoke with his mother who said his condition has made locating him a challenge.
"His diagnosis makes him avoid people. He's not going to reach out or try to congregate with people," Tammy Lacher Scully said.
Maine Game Warden Lt. Jason Luce says there's really nothing different between the search process for someone with Autism besides knowing their habits.
"We have a time-tested method that generally works fairly well," Luce said. "We run K-9s. We fly our airplanes over. We're utilizing drones now. On top of that, we have grid searchers that go shoulder-to-shoulder through our designated area."
A search is a search regardless of the person.
If you would like to prepare in the case a loved one who is prone to wandering goes missing, here's a link that can take you to database registration forms for Somserset, Lincoln, Waldo, Knox, and Penobscot counties.