"Disappearance of woman, 78, suspicious
Vermont State Police are calling the case of a missing 78-year-old Sheffield woman suspicious. Mary Pat O’Hagan was last seen Friday evening. Police were notified after O’Hagan failed to show up for a meeting Saturday morning. Yesterday, state police upgraded the search to a missing person case with suspicious circumstances. The state police Crime Scene Search Team was called to process O’Hagan’s residence. O’Hagan is white, about 5 feet tall, and 136 pounds (AP)."
"Vt. police fear woman may have been abducted; 78-year-old missing since Saturday" by David Abel, Globe Staff | September 16, 2010
Neighbors are employing their locks; others are buying them.
Since a beloved 78-year-old woman went missing in Sheffield, Vt., last week, apparently abducted from her home near the center of the rural town of fewer than 1,000 people, police have urged residents to practice extreme caution.
At a news conference yesterday, State Police reiterated that they had cause to believe that Pat O’Hagan — who moved to Sheffield from North Chelmsford, Mass. in 1995 — was taken from her home against her will. She was last seen Friday afternoon.
“There is no reason to believe that she has wandered off on her own,’’ Major Edward Ledo, commander of the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations, said at the Sheffield Wheelock Fire Department. He declined to specify why authorities concluded that she left her residence against her will, “but all indicators point in this direction,’’ Ledo said.
Police have received leads and have been searching fields, roadways, wooded areas, and abandoned buildings and vehicles up to 6 miles outside town, Ledo said. They have received assistance from the FBI as well as the Vermont National Air Guard and increased State Police patrols in the area. An air search was scheduled for today.
“Although we believe this is an isolated incident, which I will not elaborate on, we remind the citizens that they should take every precaution to ensure that their homes and vehicles are locked and that they report any suspicious activity to the State Police,’’ Ledo said....
--more--""Teams comb area for missing Vt. woman" by Lisa Rathke, Associated Press | September 17, 2010
SHEFFIELD, Vt. — FBI agents, police, and volunteers in helicopters, on horseback, and along remote roads scoured northern Vermont yesterday for a spunky 78-year-old grandmother who authorities believe was abducted from her home in a town so small it has no stores and no stoplights.
Pat O’Hagan, a widow who camped, kayaked, and lived alone, was reported missing Saturday after a friend arrived to pick her up for a rug-hooking meeting and she wasn’t there....
--more--"
This is tragic.
If something like this can happen in that town no American town is safe.
"Police search quarry for missing woman
Vermont State Police said they are continuing their search for a missing woman believed to have been abducted from her Sheffield home. Detectives chased leads and conducted interviews yesterday, hoping to find out what has become of 78-year-old Pat O’Hagan, reported missing Sept. 11. A scuba team was called in to search a quarry, but State Police Sergeant Tara Thomas said no new information was generated. A search-and-rescue team, volunteers on all-terrain vehicles, members of the Sheffield Fire Department, and firefighters from surrounding communities will search over the weekend (AP)."
I haven't read anything since; I will have to retrace my newspaper notes.
