NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Almost one year after a Nashville grandmother walked out of her apartment and disappeared, her daughter isn't giving up hope she will be found.
Lucy Buchanan, who would now be 86 years old, was showing early signs of dementia at the time of her disappearance. She has been the subject of a Silver Alert since December 2021.
Metro Police said Buchanan was last seen on surveillance video leaving her apartment on Buena Vista Pike on Nov. 24, 2021, and walking by the Walgreens at 3130 Clarksville Pike. She was a frequent customer at the store. She never returned home.
In the video, she's seen wearing khaki-colored pants, a white puffy-style coat, white toboggan and a gray scarf.
Her family said they last spoke with her on the phone the morning of Nov. 29. Her phone was either turned off or died by that afternoon. When they went to her apartment that same day to drop off food, no one answered the door.
When officers inspected her apartment, nothing was found out of place.
Metro detectives have canvassed the area and checked hospitals in an effort to find her. Family, friends and acquaintances have been interviewed, but Metro police say there still are not any leads on her whereabouts. None of her personal belongings have been found either.
Buchanan is a native of Fayetteville, but has lived in Nashville most of her life. She was known to walk around the Buena Vista and Clarksville Pike areas.
Buchanan's daughter, Rita Buchanan-Williams, described her mom as caring, funny, and someone who always wanted to help others. She would go to Walgreens frequently to shop for items for other residents in her apartment complex.
"We all just have a place for her in our hearts," said Buchanan-Williams. "I just pray hard that we find her, and pray to get an answer."
Family members and police hope someone recognizes Buchanan from the surveillance video or remembers seeing her out walking. They said tips with any new information on the case would be helpful at this point in the investigation.
"Every time we think we have something we can hang our hat on, it doesn’t pan out," said Detective Anthony Chandler with the Metro Police Department's Cold Case-Homicide/Missing Persons Unit. "That’s been the most frustrating thing."
"I feel like it will be a weight lifted," said Buchanan-Williams. "Just to find something out, just to know, because not knowing, it's hard."
If you have any information on where Lucy Buchanan is, you can call the Metro Police Department Cold Case Unit at 615-862-7803. You can also call Nashville Crime Stoppers anonymously at 615-74-CRIME.
