Joga County Sheriff asks for volunteers to help find missing elderly woman

THOMPSON, Ohio. Days after a 76-year-old woman went missing from her Thompson home, the Joga County Sheriff’s Office is organizing a search on Wednesday and calling for volunteers.

Susan Taylor has been missing since March 17th. Sheriff’s deputies say Taylor was at her house that morning and texted her son to let him know she was leaving soon.

“Usually he goes there on the weekends, so when he arrived she wasn’t there and he didn’t expect her to be there. But her car was there, her cell phone was there, and her purse was there, and he couldn’t find her anywhere,” Joga County Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand said to Isabelle Lawrence.

The search on Wednesday is to begin at 8:00 am. Volunteers are asked to meet at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church at 16550 Rock Creek Road in Thompson between 7:30 AM and 8:00 AM to register. The search will cover a large wilderness.

Volunteers must be at least 18 years of age, carry a valid photo ID for registration, and be physically capable of walking in dense swamps/wetlands. Participants are required to bring appropriate clothing and equipment to stay self-sufficient in the area for four hours. This search must be done on foot, please do not bring ATVs, horses or animals of any kind.

The sheriff’s office adds that police K-9s and pre-authorized special K-9 units will be used, so no other animals may be present at the search site.

Meanwhile, the Joga County Detective Bureau says it is looking for footage of residents showing the roadway at the following locations on or before March 17.

• Sidley Road between Burroughs Road and Stocking Road
• Rock Creek Road between Highway 528 and Highway 534.
• Thompson Road between Highway 528 and Highway 534.
• All Stocking Road
• All Moseley Road
• Phillips Road west of Highway 534
• Burroughs Road between Plank Road and Callahan Road
• Callahan Road west of Highway 534

If you have footage from any of these areas on or before March 17, please contact the Joga County Detective Bureau at 440-286-1234.

Since Friday, the Joga County Sheriff’s Office, Thompson Police and Fire Department, BCI Crime Investigation Unit, Ohio State Highway Patrol and other departments have been looking for Taylor.

“The regional drone went offline twice, a state patrol plane came and flew over the lake, and a group of divers were there to search the lake,” Hildenbrand added. Searches were also conducted on foot and with the use of dogs. According to the sheriff, the aforementioned lake is on Taylor’s property.

The sheriff said there was no indication that anyone had slipped or fallen into the lake, adding that they were “checking everything” and “not ruling anything out.”

3News asked the sheriff if any foul play was suspected, to which he replied, “Not right now.” 3News also asked the sheriff about the possibility of an animal attack. The sheriff said “there’s no evidence she was attacked by an animal” but they’re not ruling anything out.

“We will continue to investigate until we know what happened there,” Hildenbrand said.

3News also spoke to Taylor’s son on the phone on Monday, and he shared that law enforcement had taken his truck.