Authorities have conducted air searches by helicopter and completed a “very large” ground search Saturday morning, but still have not found 49-year-old Deanna Cook of Manteo.
Cook was last seen at the Duck-Thru on Roanoke Island late Wednesday morning. The Dare County Sheriff’s Office said it is believed she left the store on foot about 11 a.m.
On Thursday, seven seven K9 teams and multiple law-enforcement agencies conducted a search of the area where Cook was last seen, reviewed camera footage from businesses and conducted interviews with those businesses, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The National Center for Missing and Endangered Inc. and The Aware Foundation published alerts about Cook’s disappearance and the case was entered into North Carolina and national law-enforcement databases.
On Friday, the sheriff’s office sent alerts via the county’s emergency alerts system to the surrounding area where Cook was last seen and asked residents it in the area to check their yards, sheds and outbuildings. A multi-agency law-enforcement team conducted another search and viewed additional camera footage while Dare MedFlight conducted above-ground searches. Additional searches were also made and another grid search with multiple law enforcement agencies were conducted in the afternoon, the sheriff’s office said.
On Saturday, a very large search party made up of multiple agencies was again initiated in the early morning. A specialized search and rescue team was also brought into assist, the sheriff’s office said.
As of Saturday evening, Cook remains missing.
“The Dare County Sheriff’s Office thanks the citizens who have shared the press releases on Facebook and other social media, the businesses that have place posters in their establishments and all media outlets,” the sheriff’s office said.
Cook is white, about 5 feet 8 and 180 pounds. She has brown, shoulder-length hair with highlights. She was last seen wearing an oversize gray/blue t-shirt. Cook has a New York Yankees tattoo on her ankle.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Dare County Sheriff’s Office at 252-473-3444.
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