KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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At the heart of a community-led search for missing 74-year-old Wanda Dyer are two women with a mission: to bring Dyer home.
Dyer's family last saw her leaving her home on foot near 5th and California streets in Lawrence on March 21, according to the Lawrence Police Department. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) issued a statewide Silver Alert for Dyer on Monday.
Jill Ihde, of Lawrence, and Rochelle Edwards, of Leavenworth, are admins of the Bring Wanda Home Facebook group. Since Friday, they said the group has grown from 50 members to 1,000, and community members are constantly messaging them to help find Dyer.
Edwards said her husband has been friends with Dyer's husband for "20-something years," and when she created the Facebook group, she met Ihde. They describe each other as partners in trying to help find Dyer.
On Sunday, Ihde, Edwards and about four dozen others conducted a search party to look for Dyer around Lawrence.
"It's amazing the amount of land we covered," Ihde said.
They said enough people are interested to form another search party, they just don't know where to conduct it.
KSHB 41's Lawrence beat reporter Lily O'Shea Becker spoke with Edwards and Ihde over the phone Tuesday afternoon as Ihde was searching remote roads in Eudora.
It is believed Dyer could've set out on foot toward Eudora or Kansas City, according to KBI.
Edwards said Dyer has a family member in Kansas City, where she grew up.
A KBI news release said Dyer has confusion and memory issues.
Dyer and Ihde are asking downtown Lawrence businesses, where Dyer is known to frequent, in addition to Eudora businesses and homeowners to check their security footage or Ring doorbell video. They believe it may give them a sense of direction on where to conduct their next search.
Dyer is Black with brown eyes and gray hair. She is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds. She was last seen wearing a black coat with a pink lining, a hoodie, multi-colored pants and a backpack.
Ihde, Edwards and the Lawrence Police Department have received tips about sightings of Dyer.
Following a tip on Saturday, LPD conducted an on-foot search and utilized a drone to search near Bluffs Drive and West 6th Street. They did not locate Dyer, according to the department's Facebook.
Ihde and Edwards are worried about the duration — 11 days — Dyer has been missing.
If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Dyer, LPD asks you to call dispatch at 785-843-0250. KBI also said you can call 911.
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