Silver Alert canceled for missing Belen woman last seen in Albuquerque

Valencia County authorities canceled the Silver Alert for Aileen Little John, 91, of Belen, after she was reported missing from Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque and may have been driving a white 2019 Chrysler 300 with New Mexico plate SFN922. The cancellation was posted by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety on May 15, 2026, under the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office update.

Little John had last been seen May 10 at Presbyterian Hospital, and the alert made her one of the vulnerable older adults New Mexico’s Silver Alert system is designed to protect. State officials use the alert for missing adults age 50 or older who show a clear indication of irreversible cognitive decline such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, a standard that is meant to move fast when a senior may be confused, medically fragile or unable to find their way home.

The New Mexico Department of Public Safety’s Missing Persons Clearinghouse handles those alerts, posts the missing-person information to the public website and sends the details to media outlets. Albuquerque officials say the city’s Silver Alert program, enacted in 2013, was patterned after Amber Alerts and can reach people through television, radio, electronic billboards, social media and traffic signs, which gives it broad reach across the metro area and beyond into Valencia County.

That broad network matters because seniors who disappear after hospital visits can be especially difficult to locate. Families may not realize how quickly a discharge, a missed ride or a medical confusion can turn into a countywide search, especially when the missing person is behind the wheel. In Little John’s case, the vehicle description was central to the public notice: a white 2019 Chrysler 300 carrying plate SFN922.

Anyone who sees someone matching a Silver Alert description should dial 911 immediately, officials say. Even though Little John’s alert was later canceled, the case shows how quickly the state, county law enforcement and local media can move when a senior from Belen or anywhere in Valencia County is reported missing, and how fast those notices can be cleared once authorities no longer need them active.