Disappearance of a septuagenarian | SILVER alert sent repeatedly, even after lifting

The SILVER alert sent Tuesday by public security to find a septuagenarian appears to have encountered difficulties, while several users reported having received it again, even hours after the woman had been located. Quebec says it is aware of the situation and is working on solutions.

Many screenshots sent to The Press demonstrate in fact that the alert rang again on the telephones of several Quebecers during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday and even during the day on Wednesday. Only in the offices of The Pressaround ten people received the alert a second time during the day on Wednesday.

However, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) had already confirmed, Tuesday afternoon, having located the missing 70-year-old woman, just a few minutes after the alert was triggered. She was safe and sound.

Some users were disturbed during the night, around 3 a.m., while others received the alert at the start of the day, Wednesday. In some cases, the alert was even sent to smartphones late Wednesday afternoon, almost 24 hours after the septuagenarian was found.

Around ten reports per alert

At the Ministry of Public Security (MSP), we say we are aware of the situation, which is not a first. When such alerts are disseminated across the province, the government “receives on average around ten reports of technical problems,” admits the spokesperson for the ministry, Louise Quintin, by email.

She ensures that the MSP “always remains in close contact with the company which develops the national public alert system and its partners in the telecommunications industry to verify the origin of the anomalies reported by these reports and with a view to ‘continuous improvement “.

In general, duplicate alerts “can occur during the broadcast of cellular waves or even due to the configuration of the device,” adds the public relations specialist. “In these circumstances, it is the wireless service provider that can offer assistance to its customers,” she maintains.

Note that a SILVER alert is distinct from an AMBER alert, triggered to locate children who have been kidnapped or are in danger. A SILVER alert most often concerns a generally vulnerable adult aged 60 and over who is missing.

This is only the second time that such an alert has been sent to Quebecers’ phones since the launch of a pilot project last year. The first opportunity was to locate a septuagenarian suffering from Alzheimer’s in the Laurentians. There too, the man was located quickly, in just a few hours.