Friday, June 29, 2012
Family rallies to find missing Kingfisher woman
KINGFISHER —Kingfisher woman Betty Simon, 77, is the glue that holds her family together and continues to bring her family together after being missing for more than eight days.
In front of Simon's Kingfisher farm house, yellow ribbons hang on the property's fence posts and mailbox. Inside the house, more than 20 members of Simon's family gather to brainstorm ideas on what more they can do to find her.
“You would not think in today's age that someone could disappear into thin air, but that is apparently what we have at this point,” said Melna Mallett, Simon's sister-in-law.
Simon was last seen about 7:22 p.m. on June 20, turning right onto N Portland toward Northwest 63rd in a 2004 Buick LeSabre, after visiting her husband Leo “Tuni” Simon at Bellevue Assisted Living Center in Oklahoma City. Donna Trotter, Simon's daughter, said her mother visited Leo every day after his open heart surgery.
No new sightings
There have been no new sightings of Simon as of Thursday afternoon, Kingfisher County Undersheriff Bryon Blankenship said.
Simon's family became aware of her being missing June 21 after Simon's home nurse contacted Simon's son, Martin Vanderpool.
Vanderpool visited his mother's farm house later that evening and found no sign of her coming back home the night before.
“We have contacted all the hospitals, we have contacted morgues, we have (driven) to parking lots, I have checked Lake Hefner a couple of times,” said Sheila Nakvinda, Simon's other daughter.
Simon takes medication for congestive heart failure and cannot go unmedicated, Nakvinda said.
“Bottom line is time is of the essence and we are very frustrated. We felt the emergency, but it seems like it wasn't taken as an emergency,” Mallett said.
The family has coordinated grid searches in areas she would have driven through, passed out fliers and asked local businesses to put Simon's information on billboards.
Using social media to get the word out about Simon's disappearance, the family constantly checks the “Find Betty Simon” Facebook group for any new leads.
As of Thursday evening, more than 13,600 people joined the group.
“We want everyone to know how thankful we are to everyone that has gotten out and searched, or brought food, prayers, everything. ... We have been blessed with hundreds of people,” Trotter said.
Trotter said Simon's husband's health is improving but he has been quiet since Simon went missing.
Difficult for husband
“It is very difficult for him because he is trying to recuperate from open heart surgery, and then to still have this emotional situation, it is very difficult for him,” Mallett said.
Simon's cellphone battery lost power about 4:30 p.m. June 21 and her car is not equipped with the OnStar subscription tracking system.
“Technologically, we are at an impasse on how to trace her,” Blankenship said.
The search for Simon has included helicopter and grid searches with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and Oklahoma City Police Department, he said.
The Oklahoma County sheriff's office joined the investigation Thursday.
“We are kind of leaning toward the Oklahoma City area, as she was last seen there,” Blankenship said.
“Right now, we ask everyone across the state and across the nation to keep an eye out for her tag number. … Right now, it's really just a concentrated effort of people looking and finding her.”
A prayer vigil for Simon is planned for 7 p.m. Friday at Sts. Peter and Paul Church, 309 S Main in Kingfisher.
“I felt like when you see yellow ribbons, this means someone is supposed to come home, and I just had to do the yellow ribbons and hopefully, she'll come home. That was probably the first thing I did,” Trotter said, referring to the ribbons she placed in front of Simon's home.
m.newsok.com/family-rallies-to-find-missing-kingfisher-woman/article/3688408/?page=2
