Dear Friends of Silvia,
Wendy and I really appreciate all your help and continued efforts to try to locate Silvia! So far there is still no clear explanation in the disappearance and loss of a dear friend.
One suggestion, in addition to placing a poster on the inside of the side rear window (not rear window) of your car, is to email the Silvia missing poster, as a an attached JPEG file, to everyone in your email address book who lives in California. You could send a brief note or explanation and request that they print out copies of the poster and post them in conspicuous places (libraries, shopping centers, etc.). In that way, we could greatly broaden the poster coverage area.
At present, there are facts and circumstances supporting a rogue wave/rip current/rough seas theory, and also facts and circumstances that contradict that theory and suggest an abduction or criminal act. Park Rangers are still actively investigating the case as of this morning. Her missing persons case # is NPS 10-0027. The Rangers feel that the ocean theory is more likely. And they feel there are problems with offering a missing persons reward in terms of them fielding or following additional false leads, and also concern about other people themselves getting into trouble scuba diving out there (dangerous currents), etc. in response to a reward offer. They also expressed concern about the possibility of habitat destruction if groups of people responded to an offer of a reward.
For those who want some details on the investigation, here is an update on Silvia's disappearance on Sunday, January 24 at Point Reyes National Seashore. Not much additional information has come in or been made public.
- Silvia bought books at the Bear Valley Visitor Center at the Seashore about 11:41 AM Sunday morning. The driving time from Bear Valley Visitor Center to the Point Reyes Beach North parking lot is about 22 to 25 minutes.
- Hettie, Silvia's youngest Yellow Lab, was seen about 12:30 pm. Accounts vary as to whether the dog's leash at some point might have been caught in some rocks along Point Reyes Beach's north end, was tied to a rock, or whether Hettie was just running loose in the area.
- The Park Ranger who first found Silvia's dog Hettie running loose in the parking lot on Sunday, and who is a Lab owner himself, told Karen that Hettie definitely had not been in the ocean when he found her, and was only slightly damp from the weather (fog). He said he was concerned about the nature of Silvia's disappearance. Silvia's two other dogs and her valuables were found locked in her car.
- Presumably Silvia would have been on the beach or in the parking lot area for about 25 minutes before Hettie was discovered and Silvia went missing.
- Meanderers who know Silvia know that she would have stayed well clear of the surf unless Hettie had entered it and Silvia was compelled to follow or try to rescue the dog.
- Surfers and others using the beach at about that same time were interviewed and some re-interviewed, but no one saw Silvia or anything suspicious behavior or activity. They reported that there had been no rogue waves while they were surfing at the beach. One surfer reported a 30 foot wave once or twice, but the other surfers reported only 8 foot waves during that time frame and no rogue waves.
- There was an extensive search of the area done by Rangers and teams of volunteers including using a GPS grid quadrant, teams with search dogs, helicopters, and more than 100 volunteers over a period of several days, and there has been a lot of media coverage as you know.
- The disappearance of a 37 year-old woman, Katherine Truitt, from Alameda at McClure's Beach (a few miles to the north of where Silvia was) on Friday, January 8 remains unsolved. Her family said Truitt has been hiking the area on and off for 20 years. Rangers from the Point Reyes National Seashore saw her Ford Ranger parked in the McClure's Beach parking lot on Friday and became suspicious when it remained in the same spot Saturday. Her family and friends remain very concerned about the circumstances in Katherine's disappearance, especially in light of Silvia's disappearance.
- The Rangers report that they still have had no credible leads or tips.
- Silvia's computer and answering machine have been checked by law enforcement. Although it was considered by the Park Rangers, they said there is nothing at this time to suggest the possibility that a patient from Silvia's past work as a psychiatric nurse was involved in her disappearance.
We are still hoping for a miracle and will continue this search.
Thanks to all!
Bill and Wendy
(415) 457-3949
bdreskin@comcast.net
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