Missing woman found safe in Weakley County

Nancy Griffith

Story by Senior Investigative Reporter Shannon Taylor

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and Metro Nashville Police Department put out a silver alert for Nancy Griffith on Nov. 1. The alert said that Griffith, an 89-year-old woman from Davidson County, suffered from Alzheimer’s and was last seen around 2:30 p.m. in the area of Highway 70 and Sawyer Brown Road driving a silver 2016 Chevy Cruze. They stated that she had medical conditions that might impair her ability to return safely without incidence.

The General Manager of Nissan of Paris and father of the quarterback for UTM Dresśer Winn, Albert (Peanut) Winn, was driving home when he noticed a woman in a car on the side of the road with her lights flashing on Highway 54 in Dresden. According to a friend of Winn’s, he noticed everyone else driving by the woman, but no one was stopping.

Winn noticed that the woman was very old, and something told him to go back and check on her. Winn had no idea it was the missing woman out of Davidson County. Griffith had run out of gas and gave him a card with what she said was her husband’s number on it and for Winn to call him. The card had the name of a dentist on it.

Winn asked her where she was going, and she told him she was just trying to get home. Winn noticed her tags were from Davidson County and he knew something was wrong. He tried to crank her car and realized it was out of gas and he went to a nearby neighbor to get her some help. Shortly after, the Weakley County Sheriff’s Department arrived and told Winn that he could go and that they would take it from there.

Winn’s friend stated that she wanted people to know what he did. “He did an absolutely heroic thing by stopping and helping her when so many others just drove on by. He has no idea that I’m even calling you and letting you know what he did, but I felt like he should be recognized.”

The silver alert was canceled by Metro Nashville PD and the TBI and Metro Nashville PD reported that Griffith is being reunited with her family.

Griffith was found about 140 miles Northwest of Nashville at around 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 1, about five hours after the alert was posted.