The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has safely located 86-year-old Ruth Pettiford Miles, who was reported missing on Thursday night. The office said it located Miles in a gas station parking lot in South Carolina, where she had apparently been experiencing car trouble.

“When officers encountered Ms. Miles, the [National Crime Information Center] database immediately alerted them that she was a missing person from North Carolina,” said Sheriff Charles Blackwood. “Without that integrated system, we would have continued focusing our efforts in and around Orange County.”

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is turning to the public for assistance in finding an elderly resident reported missing on Thursday night.

A release from the office on Friday morning said family members are searching for 86-year-old Ruth Pettiford Miles. Miles, who lives on Emma B. Wright Lane north of the Hillsborough city limits, left her home on Thursday afternoon in her car and did not return. Attempts by the family and Orange County Emergency Services personnel to locate Miles as of Friday morning have been unsuccessful. She has since been put into the statewide law enforcement database as a missing and endangered person.

Ruth Pettiford Miles, 86. (Photo via the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.)

The sheriff’s office said Miles drives a white 2019 Nissan Rogue with the license plate of EMC-1535. Her height is listed as 5-foot-3 and weighs approximately 125 pounds.

Community members who have seen Miles or have any information on her whereabouts and wellbeing are encouraged to call 911, according to Orange County authorities. Additionally, Sergeant Keith Goodwin is the lead investigator in her search and he can be reached as 919-245-2918.

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