CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — It all started at a gas station in Piketon.
A vehicle pulled into the Sunoco on U.S. 23 early on the morning of Feb. 25. When it was still there two days later, the folks at the gas station called Piketon police. Officers ran the tags, which came back linked to a missing and endangered woman from Owasso, Oklahoma.
Surveillance footage shows the woman getting out of the car the morning she arrived and walking south. From there, her trail went cold.
Investigators found her purse, cash and a cell phone box inside of her vehicle. Pings to the actual phone showed the phone was back in Oklahoma. So the search really heated up from there.
Officers searched the area, and volunteers put up a drone, which helped them to locate what appeared to be the woman’s jacket and gloves, along with a female-sized footprint.
And Pike County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Davis put out the information on Facebook, sharing surveillance photos and pictures of the woman, asking the public to be on the lookout for her.
The posts were seen and shared by thousands, including Emily Moore, a hospice nurse in Chillicothe.
“Being alone, and a female around that age and just so far from home, it was just something, not a normal missing person-type scenario,” she said.
Days after seeing posts, Moore was out and about in Chillicothe seeing patients. She said she had stopped on Arch Street to complete some paperwork when she spotted a woman who looked familiar. She said she recognized the woman’s teeth and blonde hair, peeking out from beneath a hat, from the pictures she had seen online.
She decided to call police, while following the woman as she walked from Arch Street to Delano Avenue to Western Avenue.
“I circled the block, I think, three or four times, and [the police] were already there,” she said. “I just kind of followed her where she was walking, and they were there very, very quickly.”
About a half an hour later, Moore said the police called her to confirm it was indeed the missing woman she had spotted.
“It was emotional overload,” she said. “I immediately began sobbing. Of course, chills all over my body. I just couldn’t believe it. I thought for sure when it was him calling me that he was going to say, thank you for calling, it didn’t end up being her, if you see anything else, give us a call.”
Moore said the entire ordeal offered up some lessons – to stay connected, alert and compassionate.
“That’s what we’re supposed to do as people and as human beings, I mean, that’s the kind of basic thing that we’re taught in life is to look out for each other and care for each other, whether you know them or not,” she said. “I mean, that’s just what we should be doing.”
10TV is not naming the missing woman to protect her privacy and personal health information.
Prosecutor Davis did say the woman is now safe, and her family is grateful for everyone who worked to find her.
Davis also said a lot of effort went into the search and investigation prior to the woman being found. Investigators were canvassing, searching for possible additional surveillance video, requesting records, and more. And a large, multi-agency search was planned for Tuesday. But, of course, that has been called off now that the woman has been found.
As for why the woman may have decided to walk so far along the railroad tracks, Davis said one clue may be her vehicle. When officials went to impound it, they discovered the car would not start.