Published: September 05, 2008 05:00 pm      

FRIDAY: Search continues for missing woman (5:00 p.m.)

MISSING: Family, volunteers comb farmland for Lucille Schurr.

WILSON — Family members and dozens of volunteers continued to comb the fields and farms surrounding the home of an elderly woman who has been missing since Thursday morning.

The search for 83-year-old Lucille Schurr began about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, when a family member called the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department to report she was missing.

Schurr, described as 5 feet, 1 inch tall and petite with salt-and-pepper hair, suffers from dementia and may have wandered from her home on Cambria-Wilson Road.

The search was suspended as darkness fell Thursday, and it resumed Friday morning. Four search teams — two on ATVs and two on foot — combed the areas surrounding Schurr’s farmhouse.

During the night, deputies sought the help of a U.S. Border Patrol helicopter, equipped with heat-seaking technology. The helicopter’s equipment does not work as well during the day, when the ground is warm.

That search continued for about two and a half hours, Chief Deputy James Voutour said.

“They covered all the ground that wasn’t heavily treed, and they’re very confident that nobody was there,” he said.

When the search resumed Friday, deputies and volunteer firefighters worked to re-canvass areas they’d already looked, sticking to the “thicker things,” Voutour said.

“(The terrain is) difficult, but it’s flat,” he said. “There are some creeks, and a lot of treed areas. The treed areas are the hardest, because you have to actually walk through them, almost shoulder-to-shoulder, to search them.”

Most of the searchers were volunteer firefighters, but some were civilians who showed up to help.

Voutour called the operation a “great partnership.”

The search is made more difficult by the ambiguity in the timeline of Schurr’s disappearance. Family members last spoke to her about 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, but it’s unknown when she left the house.

When nobody could reach Schurr on Thursday morning, family members came to the house and could not find her. Her cat, Mr. Whiskers, was gone, and her purse was still on the table.

Schurr’s daughter, Yvonne Peloquin, said a neighbor reported seeing a car in the driveway about 9:30 a.m. The neighbor said he saw the car pull in and heard women talking.

“We have no idea who that was,” she said. ”We have yet to find out what that was all about.”

She said the family is hoping whoever it was will come forward, so they can determine if Schurr was still home at that time.

The family has joined in the search, using their own vehicles and ATVs to ride through the back fields with the volunteers. Meanwhile, at Schurr’s house, they’re going through her phone numbers, calling any family members who might know where she could be.

“There’s a lot of family who we’re trying to connect with,” Peloquin said. “It might be somebody that might have stopped in with mom like once a year, people that we don’t even know.”

The cat, Mr. Whiskers, has already returned to the house. Peloquin said she doubts her mother would have thought the cat was lost and gone looking for him.

“She knew the cat would come back,” she said. “It’s not like she was out on a search because she was scared and upset that the cat was gone. The cat could have led her a little further than she’d normally gone. ... But she could have hurt herself and got disoriented. That’s the thought. Typically, it’s not her M.O.”

Peloquin said Schurr has lived in the house for several decades and knows the property well, but may have become confused due to dementia.

Schurr also has sight problems and is hard of hearing, Voutour said.

The family thanked all the volunteers for coming to help.

Peloquin said she was amazed at the quick response from the sheriff’s department.

“They’re covering areas that we can’t cover. They’re going neighbor to neighbor, on the other roads, covering a lot of territory,” she said. “(When) I came out here ... I was just overwhelmed, It was like, ‘Someone else needs to come here, because I can’t do this.’ And within seconds, I had the command center, and helicopters going. It was just wonderful with how many people helping.”

Several family members slept in Schurr’s home on Thursday night, on couches and in chairs.

As the search continues, Peloquin said, they’re trying to keep their spirits up.

“We’re trying to really stay strong and trust in the Lord,” she said.

Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.