Search For Missing Ross County Woman
RICHMOND DALE, Ohio - It's hard enough waiting for any information about their loved one, but family of 20-year-old Shasta Himelrick tell 10TV that police have asked them not to conduct any grass-roots searching.
"I just wish they could find her, that we'd know for sure what happened," Shasta's grandmother Shirley Himelrick told 10TV Sunday.
The elder Himelrick says her granddaughter dropped by to visit the evening of Christmas Day, to escape noise and bustle at her home just a few doors away in Richmond Dale.
"She got a text message, and she said 'I've got to go, Granny,' said 'I'll be back'. But she never came back," Shirley explained.
Apart from a possible glimpse caught by a gas station surveillance camera early the morning of December 26, Shasta Himelrick hasn't been seen since.
Her cousin, Stacie Lockhart, tells 10TV Shasta lives with her boyfriend.
"She's so heartfelt. She cares about everybody," Lockhart explained.
Compounding the family's grief, police didn't explain why they didn't want family and friends to search the area on Sunday, as loved ones had planned. Furthermore, Shasta had shared joyful news just twenty-four hours before she vanished.
"She'd just announced on Christmas Eve that she was expecting," Lockhart said.
Police eventually located Shasta Himelrick's vehicle at railroad tracks near the rural intersection of Higby and Three Locks Roads. The car's doors, it's reported, were open, and several of Shasta's belongings, including her cell phone and ATM card, were still inside.
"And there was a little bit of blood, I think they said," explained Shasta's grandmother, "on the seat and on the back of the headrest."
The family says it's a challenge maintaining hope while dismissing suspicion, including about Shasta's boyfriend.
"He seems sincere, like, you know, that he's really upset," said Shirley Himelrick. "But really, you can't tell about people."
Loved ones tell 10TV that police have notified them that officers have a search planned Monday. Family and friends are hoping for the all-clear to conduct the search they'd hoped to do Sunday.
Shasta Himelrick is 5'4", has blonde hair and green eyes, and has a red tattoo on her right bicep. She was last seen wearing a pink sweatshirt and gray sweatpants at the Speedway gas station located on East Main Street in Chillicothe. If you have information about her disappearance, call the Ross County Sheriff's office at (740) 773-1185.