Public tips, resident NW of Redmond help searchers find missing woman, 81
(Update: Woman found tired but uninjured More details)
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – An extensive search for a missing 81-year-old Redmond-area woman with memory loss ended in success Saturday night when a resident who had been alerted by authorities found the woman on BLM land south of Tetherow Bridge, tired but otherwise okay, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.
Deputies had issued an alert to residents in an area northwest of Redmond and asked the public for help late Saturday afternoon.
The sheriff’s office was dispatched around 3:20 p.m. to the reported missing woman in the area of Northwest 74th Street and Larch Avenue in an unincorporated area northwest of Redmond, Sergeant Nathan Garibay said.
Janelle Schissel apparently had been gone from her home in the area since around noon, he said.
Deputies, a U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement K-9 team, a sheriff’s office K-9 team and Sheriff’s Search and Rescue volunteers, including trackers and a K-9 team, were called out for the search. A LifeFlight helicopter joined the search early Saturday evening.
A Deschutes Emergency Alert was sent to area residents to be watching for Schissel and for anyone who spotted her to contact the sheriff’s office through non-emergency dispatch.
The alerts brought numerous tips from the public, Garibay said, and as a result, the search began to focus on the area around Tetherow Bridge. SAR volunteer teams began focused ground searches in the area, moving outwards as areas were cleared.
Schissel was found around 7:40 p.m. by a concerned neighbor who been made aware of the search and also provided a tip which helped focus the search effort, Garibay said.
A nearby SAR team assigned to the search responsed, along with patrol deputies and other SAR members. Schissel was evaluated by a SAR medic and taken home, Garibay said.
The search involved 21 SAR volunteers, including a SAR K-9 team, eight patrol deputies, including a K-9 team, a Forest Service law enforcement officer and K-9, a special services deputy and the LifeFlight helicopter and crew.
"The sheriff's office would like to thank the countless area residents who provided information and assisted in the search efforts," Garibay said in a news release.
