The program, called Silver Alert, is modeled after the Amber Alert program.
"The Silver Alert program is designed to quickly find those individuals and return them home safely," said Bryan Beatty, secretary of the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.
Here's how the Silver Alert program works:
If an adult who suffers from dementia or a cognitive impairment is reported missing, a law officer will immediately enter that person into a missing persons database.
That will trigger a statewide "be on the lookout" bulletin and will notify media outlets much faster that in the past.
If the missing person is believed to be driving, information will go up on highway signs just like it does in Amber Alert cases.
A phone-calling system will also be activated, calling residents and businesses in the area where the person went missing to notify folks of the disappearance. The calls will go out at the rate of 1,000 per minute.
"It'll give the description, that they went missing in this general area and give the general description information out to the public," said Lois Hogan of the North Carolina Center for Missing Persons.
Officials estimate they'll use Silver Alert 20 to 30 times a year. North Carolina is only the third state to have such a program.
"It's another tool, and the tools that we need anytime someone's missing, the quicker we can get to 'em the better off we are," said Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison.
Unlike Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts will not be broadcast on the emergency alert system, which transmits a tone signal to television and radio stations indicating that an emergency message will follow.
