HIGH POINT, N.C. — Tuesday marked day seven of the search for a missing High Point woman.
81-year-old Heddie Dawkins suffers from dementia and was last seen leaving her home on Blockhouse Court, just off of Penny Road, last Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, police and volunteers gathered at a flyer response in a church parking lot. They all took flyers with Dawkins' image to pass out to neighbors.
High Point police chief Travis Stroud spoke to media and volunteers on Tuesday ahead of canvassing the area. He said, "I'm always going to be optimistic."
Stroud believes they will find Dawkins alive.
These are the flyers search volunteers are passing out:
Monday: Day 6 of the search
On Monday, police searched yards again near Dawkins' home and put drones in the air.
"We believe Miss Dawkins is in our search radius somewhere; it's just somewhere that we have not checked yet," High Point police chief Travis Stroud said.
Over the weekend, several volunteers formed their own search parties and went out looking. High Point police said a search group found a piece of fabric the family believes may belong to Dawkins.
Police are investigating the fabric but haven't confirmed any connection to Dawkins.
The family believes Dawkins is more active at night, so volunteers have driven around the area during the early morning hours, looking for any signs of her.
Both Dawkins' family and police believe they will find her alive.
WFMY News 2 learned volunteers are going out and placing gift bags filled with water and food with Heddie’s name on each bag in case she stumbles upon it.
Police still want neighbors in the area to check their backyards and storage buildings, just in case Dawkins may have wandered in.
Police ask everyone to keep an eye out for her. If you have any information about where she could be, call 911.
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HOW TO HELP:
Police are asking citizens to do the following:
- Thoroughly check property (including fenced areas, storage buildings, or vehicles)
- Review doorbell/surveillance camera footage
- Continue to share flyers with photographs of Ms. Dawkins
- Call 911 or High Point Police at 336-883-3224 if you have information that can help find Ms. Dawkins
