I saw this missing woman on another website that I frequent, and thought I'd try to help the family by posting it here too -- especially for those who may be in the area.
Name: Connie Marie Koch
Age: 62
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde and Gray
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 130lbs
Vehicle Description: 2005 White Toyota Corolla - Washington License Plate 971-VOL
Connie was dealing with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity - for more information go to http://www.multiplechemicalsensitivity.org/
Her destination in Texas was the Environmental Medicine Treatment Center in Dallas, TX. They have been alerted that she is missing. Her recent struggles with reactions to her environment were very trying, and the decision to leave her job and home to travel to Texas was a hard one. She had been feeling very isolated and lonely since January. Her mood prior to Thursday was by most accounts better that previously thought.
If you have any information, you are asked to call 911 or the Lake Stevens Police Department at 425-335-9537.
Official website for search: http://findconniemarie.blogspot.com/
Most recent news articles:
http://www.kirotv.com/news/19044379/detail.html
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_032909WAB-lake-stevens-missing-woman-SW.82eac165.htmlSearch Intensifies For Missing Lake Stevens Woman
Posted: 6:45 am PDT March 30, 2009
Updated: 6:36 pm PDT March 30, 2009
LAKE STEVENS, Wash. -- Volunteers including the Boy Scouts are joining the search for a 62-year-old Lake Stevens woman who was discovered missing Thursday afternoon.
"I can't just see her up and disappearing, from what I knew of her as a parent. This is not her, this is not something she would do," said search volunteer Danette McCroskey.
Former teacher and mother Connie Koch was scheduled to fly to a medical clinic in Dallas on Thursday to be treated for multiple chemical sensitivity, a condition that made Koch acutely sensitive to odors given off by chemicals and furniture.
McCroskey and her son Kyle, a former student of Koch's, are now on a mission to motivate as many volunteers as they can. They're hoping to distribute thousands of flyers and hoping someone out there might find Koch.
Her family said Koch was supposed to fly with oxygen tanks but was nervous about how'd she'd react on an airplane.
"She could have oxygen on the plane, but she'd still be trapped on the plane for however long it takes to get to Texas -- five hours -- and that's an environment that she couldn't control," said Koch's son, Tim Jorgensen.
On Thursday afternoon, a relative discovered that Koch's home was empty with her suitcase still packed and her car missing.
"The only things she took with her were her purse, her phone and her two oxygen tanks. So we could think that maybe she decided she didn't want to take the plane and she's driving right now," Jorgensen.
Adding to the mystery, police said Koch sent a text message to a relative that said "look at Stevens Pass." Since then, sheriff's deputies from three counties and volunteers searched the mountains by foot and helicopter where the message was sent, but found nothing.
Volunteers are planning to pass out fliers about Koch along U.S. 2 between Everett and Leavenworth, said reporter Gary Horcher.
"She's constantly in contact with people, so that's why this is so strange to us, because she doesn't normally stop communicating," said Jorgensen.
Koch taught at area schools for 20 years and was active in her church and a helped out at a food bank.
Koch's car, a white 2005 Toyota Corolla with license No. 971VOL, is also missing.
Authorities ask anyone who sees Koch or her car to call 911 or Lake Stevens police.
The group search for Koch is meeting Tuesday at 7 a.m. at Northlake Middle School in Lake Stevens. From there, they'll drive to Leavenworth passing flyers out.
Connie, I hope you're found safe soon!Lake Stevens teacher still missing
07:14 PM PDT on Monday, March 30, 2009
By ERIC SCHUDISKE / KING 5 News
LAKE STEVENS, Wash. - The Lake Stevens Police Department is asking for the public's help in finding a woman who hasn't been seen since Thursday afternoon.
Connie Koch has been a teacher in the Lake Stevens School District since the mid-1980s, most recently at Northlake Middle School.
On Thursday she was supposed to fly to Texas for treatment of a hypersensitivity to chemical smells. A family member stopped by. She was gone, but her baggage and her medication was still at home.
Koch sent a text message from Stevens Pass on Thursday saying "look at Stevens Pass."
The search is now focused there.
"She could have driven up there to think, and she could still be up there, just frozen with fear, " said her son, Tim Jorgensen.
Jorgensen believes his mother may have tried to drive herself to medical treatment in Texas, instead of flying. He says she was extremely nervous about concentrated smells on the flight.
Connie's daughter, Hope Struck, believes her mother's medical condition caused her to tape vents shut and seal shelves with aluminum foil to block odor in her home.
"It was definitely affecting the way that she was able to function and think, so we're worried that she's confused and disoriented," she said.
Connie is described by her family as loved by her school and church communities. Now the family has turned to the media and the Internet for help in finding her.
Her daughter Hope is pregnant.
"I really would like her to come be a grandma," she said.
Koch is described as white, 5-foot-4 and about 130 pounds, with blue eyes and blond hair. Her vehicle, a white, 2005 Toyota Corolla with the Washington state license plate 971VOL, is also missing.
If you have any information, you are asked to call 911 or the Lake Stevens Police Department at 425-335-9537.