Missing Local Woman’s Car Found Prompting Search
San Andres, CA — Several rescue crews have been combing an area near Wilseyville in Calaveras County since this morning after a missing local woman’s car was found on a dirt road, but she has not been located.
A Silver Alert was issued thirteen days ago for 87-year-old Helen Joyce Coultrup of San Andreas. She was last seen in the afternoon on Saturday, August 3rd in the Valley Springs area driving a Toyota Yaris hatchback in the area of Highway 12 and 26.
Calaveras County Sheriff’s spokesperson Sgt. Greg Stark tells Clarke Broadcasting that just after 8 a.m. a citizen reported finding a vehicle fitting the description of Coultrap’s car in the Wilseyville area several miles off Highway 26 on a dirt road. He details, “The vehicle was down a heavily rutted road dirt road. One of the tires was flat. It appeared to be inoperable or stuck if you will. There were no immediate signs of foul play. However, the investigation is ongoing at this time.”
Also, there were no visible clues or any possible trail markers left behind regarding a direction Coultrup may have gone once exiting the car, according to Stark. Currently searching the area are Calaveras County Sheriff’s Detectives, California Highway Patrol Air Unit and the Calaveras County Volunteer Search and Rescue Team that includes a dog.
Stark adds that they have requested more searchers from the California Office of Emergency Services Law Enforcement Branch, as he says they plan to “continue searching overnight if they have to.”
