Searches coming up this weekend
Wanda Dyer, 74, has been missing for almost two weeks. Her husband of 46 years has a couple of requests for the community.
Dave Dyer said Wednesday that he’s barely slept since Wanda has been gone — since Friday morning, March 21.
“It’s been so long, you know, I dread the worst,” he said. “But I don’t understand, if she’s still walking around, why no one’s called the police immediately.”
Folks searching for Wanda are hard at work to track reported sightings, organize searches and keep information straight. The “Bring Wanda home” Facebook group has grown to about 1,200 people since it was launched last week.
It’s been helpful, but Dave has been frustrated to see people posting information about seeing Wanda under images of flyers that tell them to call.
If you see Wanda Dyer, call 911 immediately.
Other information can be reported to dispatch:
785-843-0250.
“It’s very simple. Read the flyer; if you think you see her, call the number,” he said — however, he noted that an updated statewide silver alert Lawrence police issued for Wanda on Monday upgraded the status, asking people to call 911 immediately if they see her.
Wanda has stayed in good shape, and she loves to walk. But “She’s suffering from dementia. It’s suddenly gotten a lot worse over the last couple of months,” Dave said last week.
Wanda is 5-foot-2 and 117 pounds. She was last seen wearing a black coat with pink lining and blue, patterned pants. She was carrying a black backpack. The last confirmed sighting with photo proof was around 7:15 p.m. Friday, March 21 in Eudora, though she may have been seen as recently as Friday, March 28.
Rochelle Edwards, a friend of Dave’s, has been leading search efforts. She and others have been working to gather information, and she’s sharing updates in the Facebook group. Moderators are pinning key posts under the “Featured” tab, which can be found at this link.
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Dave last week shared some reported sightings of Wanda; read more in this article. One neighbor reported possibly seeing Wanda last Sunday, March 23, but Dave now said he doesn’t think that was accurate because the shirt the neighbor described seeing Wanda wearing — a Lawrence Public Library shirt — is in her closet.
Edwards and others have also worked to compile a timeline of reported sightings of Wanda to the best of their ability. Only a few sightings have been confirmed with photo or video proof.
There are other people who match Wanda’s description who walk in the same areas where Wanda has reportedly been seen, said Jill Ihde, who has been helping to organize the search.
Noting those caveats, here is a map and timeline of reported sightings of Wanda, according to the latest updates from Dave and the folks organizing the search. Sightings confirmed with video or photo proof are noted on the map; others are unconfirmed. Use the left and right arrows to move through the various locations.
Dave said he learned from a Eudora police officer that a person in town had reported seeing Wanda on Friday, March 28, and having a conversation with her, but they hadn’t realized she was missing at the time. Dave said he was told Wanda seemed to be doing alright and seemed well fed. She does not have any money, as far as he knows, so he is not sure how she’s been eating.
On Saturday, Lawrence police posted on social media that they had received a report that Wanda might be in the area near Sixth Street and Bluffs Drive — about a block or two from the couple’s home. “Officers conducted a line search on foot then a member of our drone team searched by air,” but they did not locate her, according to the post.
About 50 people helped with an organized search of Centennial Park on Sunday. Other folks checked various locations around Lawrence, covering a lot of miles together.
The group is organizing another search, planned for Saturday and possibly Sunday, April 4 and 5 in Eudora.
Many details are still to be determined; keep an eye on the Facebook event page for more information, details and needed resources.
EquuSearch Midwest, a group of volunteer specialists who work with law enforcement and communities to find missing people, has been helping coordinate searches, Edwards said.
“They have been instrumental with all we do,” she said. “We have been so blessed to have them helping us in this effort to bring Wanda home. We definitely could not do it without their help.”
A longtime librarian who worked at KU’s Watson Library for 30 years, Wanda has always been quiet and very nice, Dave said. With her dementia, she’s sometimes had moods of extreme anger.
Wanda grew up in Kansas City. Though her mother and aunt are long deceased, Dave said before Wanda went missing, she had been saying she wanted to go visit them in Kansas City. Dave thinks there’s a chance she may decide to head that direction, and people looking for her are hoping to spread the word well beyond Lawrence and Eudora.
Dave also said he’d seen some folks online be critical of Lawrence police, but his observation has been that they’re doing everything they can.
“I’m a ’60s radical and generally not a big fan of the police, but Lawrence police have done amazing work on this,” Dave said. “I’m just so impressed with how hard they’re working.”
If anyone sees Wanda, they should call 911 immediately. Anyone with other information on Wanda’s location can call the nonemergency dispatch line at 785-843-0250.
To find the latest info on how to help and when search parties will be organized, see the Facebook group, “Bring Wanda home.”
Ihde is hoping to find somewhere to print color flyers for less than 25 cents per page. Anyone who can help with that can reach out in the Facebook group.
Post last updated at 7:47 p.m. Wednesday, April 2
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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