Los Angeles County gets new tools to find and save vulnerable people with cognitive disabilities

Janet Rivera cares for both her 79-year-old mother, who has dementia, and her 25-year-old son, who has a genetic disorder called Fragile X syndrome. Even though their diagnoses are different, her two loved ones share the same symptoms. That means they tend to wander from home, have cognitive impairments, and have difficulty finding their way home.

when she met Found in LAa county program that distributes free technology to help find vulnerable people with cognitive disabilities, felt like a lifeline.

The county gave her son and mother free wristbands that emitted a radio signal every few seconds. If one of the two were missing, Rivera would call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and turn on the surveillance system to track signals from the missing person's device.

She feels that the tracker protects her loved one's freedom and independence, alleviating her fear that they may be harmed if she is not found soon.

“I can't tell you how much this has helped us with stress relief and peace of mind as caregivers,” she told an audience gathered at Gloria Molina Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The event marked the seventh anniversary of the LA Found program and the addition of new technology tools to the program's arsenal.

Enrollees can now choose between two wearable devices. One is a wirelessly transmitting wristband supported by the nonprofit organization Project Lifesaver, and the other is a GPS-enabled smartwatch from technology company Theora Care that can be paired with an app on a caregiver's phone.

Jordan Wall, who has autism, shows off his GPS watch at Gloria Molina Grand Park in Los Angeles on October 15, 2025.

(Allen J. Scherben/Los Angeles Times)

The program, which also offers home safety training and other resources for families, was born out of Manhattan Beach resident Kirk Moody's efforts to find his wife, Nancy Paulikas, who disappeared while visiting the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on October 15, 2016.

While Moody and his family searched the museum grounds, security cameras captured Paulikas, who suffered from early-onset Alzheimer's disease, walking away down Wilshire Boulevard. In December 2018, police received a report that a body had been found in a park in Sherman Oaks. it was hers.

between him, 2 year searchMoody and the nonprofit Alzheimer's Los Angeles Together with my supervisor, Janice Hahn, and others, I began work on what would become LA Found.

This service is available to any Los Angeles County resident who has been diagnosed with dementia, autism, or other cognitive impairments that put them at increased risk for wandering.

More than 1,800 people have since received tracking devices through the program, and 29 missing people have been successfully located.

“No one should have to go through this pain, this hopelessness, this fear,” Moody said Wednesday on the ninth anniversary of his wife's disappearance.

Wandering is a common symptom of dementia and autism, but the reasons are different.

Brain degeneration associated with Alzheimer's disease typically begins in the entorhinal cortex, which helps us track our location as we move through space, and then moves to the hippocampus. The hippocampus helps us understand where things are in relation to us.

As the disease progresses, people have increasing difficulty mentally tracking their location and remembering where they are going and how to get home.

People with autism may wander away from home and caregivers to chase things that catch their attention or to escape unpleasant sensory stimuli such as noise or bright lights.

According to research, Up to 60% of people with dementiaand 25% to 50% of people with autismwill wander or bolt at some point. These episodes can lead to injury or death. Although it's not entirely clear why, children with autism in particular are often drawn to bodies of water when they get lost. An average of seven autistic children disappear or drown every month in the United States. National Autism Association.

The biggest challenge for families is that many at-risk people are able to successfully circumvent complex systems of locks and security sensors, even though they lack the language or cognitive skills to call for help if they get lost.

In some cases, people slip and fall while surrounded by caring caregivers and despite extensive measures taken by their families to keep them safe.

Kate Movius researches wandering extensively and trains first responders to support people with autism. She outfitted her Highland Park home with numerous locks and security sensors to protect her son, who has autism. Nevertheless, by the time she got a Project Lifesaver wristband for Aidan, now 25, he had gone missing several times.

“If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone,” Moebius said. “As a caregiver, you put out a lot of fires, [wandering] You won't understand it unless you live it. ”

If you or someone you know could benefit from LA Found's free services, please contact the program at (833) 569-7651. [email protected] or ad.lacounty.gov/lafound.