Bringing our most vulnerable loved ones home.
DENNIS exists to save lives. It brings families, neighbors, businesses, and first responders together in one coordinated effort to find people who go missing, and to respond to their crises in an informed and supportive way.
Our Mission
No family should search alone. No responder should arrive uninformed.
When someone with autism, dementia, or a disability goes missing, the people closest to them are often the ones who can help first. DENNIS connects them. Families share what matters before a crisis. Verified neighbors are alerted the moment it starts. First responders arrive knowing who they are looking for and how to approach them safely. Everyone works from the same picture, toward the same goal: bringing them home.
What It Is
Three alerts. One community. Zero cost to families.
DENNIS is a community safety app built for people who can wander, get lost, or go into crisis: autistic children and adults, people living with dementia, and anyone with a condition that makes them vulnerable. Families set it up on a calm day. When something goes wrong, one press brings the right help, with the right information.
Elopement Alert
For a person who has wandered or bolted. The search starts the moment you press it, with their profile already attached: photo, how they communicate, what they are drawn to, what frightens them, and how to approach them safely.
Missing Person Alert
For any missing child or endangered adult. Nearby verified volunteers see who to look for and where. First responders whose agency uses DENNIS are brought in as the search grows.
Assistance Alert
For a crisis that is not a disappearance: a meltdown, a confused parent who is frightened and fighting, an escalation you cannot calm alone. It brings trained people who arrive knowing your loved one.
Simple enough for the hardest day of your life.
Every screen assumes shaking hands and no time to read. Everything that can be set up in advance already is.
How a search unfolds
From one press to a whole community, in minutes.
- The family presses the alert and answers three quick questions: how long ago, what they are wearing, and how they are moving. Their profile is already attached.
- Nearby verified volunteers are alerted first, and the search widens on its own as time passes, faster near water, highways, and rail lines, and after dark.
- Volunteers are given a place to go, starting with the spots the person is most drawn to and the hazards nearest to where they were last seen.
- First responders whose agency uses DENNIS are notified as the search reaches their jurisdiction. They can take command, direct volunteers, and message everyone at once.
- Sightings go straight to the family to confirm, so a false lead does not pull the search away.
- When they are found, the family marks them safe and everyone is told to stand down.
The responder command map during a sample search.
Join the mission
Find your place in the search.
Families
Protect everyone in your home, from a child who bolts to a grandparent with dementia. Build a profile once. One press brings help.
For families →Volunteers
Be the neighbor who helps bring someone home. Alerted only when you are close, with a clear job and safety guidance.
Volunteer →First Responders
Command a coordinated community search, start your own, and arrive knowing exactly who you are looking for.
For responders →Government & Agencies
One coordination layer for Community Services Boards, care providers, schools, and public safety.
For agencies →Businesses & Organizations
Be a lookout, be found by the families in your community, and help keep the search free.
For businesses →DENNIS+
Coming soon: help for the everyday side of caregiving, with one organizer for appointments, to-dos, and guides.
Learn about DENNIS+ →Sponsors
Every emergency feature is free for families. Sponsors put screened volunteers on the ground.
Become a sponsor →Heroes
Meet the people, families, and companies who keep the search free.
Meet our heroes →Sources for the figures on this page
- CDC, Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 2022 data (published 2025). Source
- Anderson et al., Occurrence and Family Impact of Elopement in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Pediatrics, 2012 (summary by the federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee). Source
- Alzheimer's Association, Wandering. Source
- National Autism Association, Mortality and Risk in ASD Wandering/Elopement, 2011 to 2016 (documented cases). Source
Screens shown are from the DENNIS app in field testing, using sample data. Names, people, and places in screenshots and examples are fictional.
Join the List
TESTERS NEEDED
Testing is underway. Sign up to help test the software.
Families, volunteers, partners, responders, providers, and sponsors: one form, and we'll follow up with what fits you, including how to join Phase 1 testing.
SMS Disclosure. By checking the SMS consent box on the form above, you are agreeing to receive text messages from Find With Dennis LLC, including interest-list updates, testing invitations, community drill notifications, and account or safety-program information. Consent is optional and is not a condition of joining the interest list or of using any DENNIS service. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to unsubscribe at any time, or reply HELP for assistance. We do not share, sell, or rent your mobile number or your text-message consent to third parties for their marketing; text messaging originator opt-in data and consent will not be shared with any third parties, excluding aggregators and providers of the text message services. See our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.