Community joins family in search for missing Bend woman

The search for Sara Gomez, a Bend woman missing for nearly two weeks, entered a new, wider chapter on Saturday as dozens of concerned community members joined family and friends in searching east of Bend for the 24-year-old woman.

The organizers of the search that began at Big Sky Park brought together friends family and community members to show their support for Gomez and to aid in the search.

Gomez was reported missing on Feb. 20 by a concerned friend, and officials have been searching ever since.

Her sister’s fiance, Patrick Garrett, helped to organize this search, and he said they are still hopeful that they will be able to bring Sara home.

“I am amazed at how many people showed up, the turn out was awesome,” Garrett said. “And actually how smooth we were able to make this happen, and how smooth it is working, for our first time, I am amazed. And we are only going to get better at this. We’re hoping not to do any more — we’re hoping to find Sara.”

Garrett said they hoped to find something that would lead to Gomez. He added that they will be out searching each weekend, if need be, and would be back Sunday at Big Sky Park.

To get updates, you can join the Facebook group Finding Sara, which has grown to nearly 4,800 members at last count.