VA VA - Bonnie Santiago, 56, Carter Mountain, 12 July 2014

Police are looking for a missing woman last seen near Carter Mountain Orchard in Charlottesville.

Bonnie Santiago, 56, was last seen about 1 a.m. on July 12, according to police.

Santiago is described as a 5’4″ woman who weighs 175 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes.

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The Sheriff's Office is setting up the mobile command unit Tuesday afternoon. A few officers have already started to search for Santiago. Most of the search effort will begin Tuesday afternoon around Carter Mountain Orchard. Search and rescue crews plan to comb through the area in teams.

“They had a dog in here last night that attempted to track and we will be bringing other dogs that are affiliated search and rescue,” said Albemarle County Sheriff Chip Harding.

Most of the effort will focus on a home on the mountain.

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Santiago, 56, was last seen at 1 a.m. Saturday while visiting the home of her boyfriend at Carter Mountain Orchard, authorities said. Her family reported her missing Monday, prompting Albemarle County police and the county sheriff’s office to launch a full sweep of Carter Mountain Orchard and some of the surrounding area Tuesday and Wednesday.

By 2 p.m. Wednesday, the sheriff’s office had suspended the search.

“We’ve covered all the probable areas,” said Albemarle County Sheriff Chip Harding. “Is it possible that she’s here? Yes, we can’t rule it out completely. But we feel pretty confident that she’s not.”

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Johnson said members of the Albemarle County Sheriff's Office searched the mountain twice this past week, using canine search dogs and officers on horseback to cover the rugged terrain. Santiago was not found. "They're done searching, now it's our investigation," Johnson said.

Without going into details, Johnson said Santiago spent some time on Carter Mountain. "There's a home there," she said. Johnson labeled the disappearance a "high-priority case."

Asked if foul play was involved in the Staunton woman's disappearance, Johnson said, "At this point, it's a missing person case."

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“I just went up to the mountain because I hadn't heard from her and when I got there I noticed she was missing,” Traci said.

Santiago found items that she recognized belong to her mother - things she believes no one would normally leave behind. “I found all her stuff - her medicine, her glasses, her cellphone, and her van was up there and she wasn't in it,” Traci said.

Carter Mountain, the epicenter of the two-day search that turned up no sign of her, is where Santiago's boyfriend works and lives. “He told me her and him got into a little argument Saturday and he woke up, went to work, and come back home for lunch and realized she wasn't there,” Traci said.

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Santiago's daughter told NBC29 that when she went to search for her mother, she found things like her van, glasses, and cellphone.

“We have collected her personal items and are now evaluating those in hopes that we will be able to determine the location and whereabouts of Bonnie Santiago. It is still a very active investigation for us. We have dedicated a lot of resources and it remains a high priority for the agency,” said Carter Johnson, spokesperson for Albemarle County police.

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On Aug. 30, family and advocates for missing persons held an awareness event called "Beep for Bonnie" as they held up signs encouraging people to get the word out and to beep their horns in hope that it will bring her home...

The family of Bonnie Santiago said they have been in contact with investigators and have hopes for another search party soon.

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The families of two women, missing since this past July, met in Charlottesville Saturday to search for clues to their disappearance. They scoured the Rivanna trail, starting from Riverview Park in the city with the help of the organization Missing in America...

Dozens met to search an area in sight of Carter Mountain, where Bonnie Santiago was last seen in July... The group began a search of the woods, along with a blood hound to help track Santiago's scent.

Sarah Platts from VK9 Search and Recovery said, "In this case I have scent articles that belonged to Bonnie, so I can either conduct for live scent search, because even if she's been through this area, her scent is still remained in the area, or the scent of human remains."

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The Santiago family has missed one of their main family members, Bonnie Santiago, for exactly a year this Sunday. Known as a sister, mother, and grand-mother, the Stauton woman went missing on Carter's Mountain. Police searched for her, but could not find her.

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JusticeWillBeServed said:

"Missing Stauton Woman Honored By Local Community"

http://www.newsplex.com/home/headli...man-Honored-By-Local-Community-314499961.html

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Aeronomy said:

From your link, ". . . the Santiago family expresses great frustration with the police for not letting them search for her on Carter's Mountain."
After she's been missing for over a year, why would the police still prevent them from searching for her there? I can understand if that were the case initially, but I'm perplexed as to why that would be at this point in time.

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Richard Cornwell found his sister's remains Saturday while conducting his own search of a 2-square-mile area using information given to him by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation

GBI agents would tell Richard Cornwell where to look based on leads they had and he would go out searching on weekends, days off and whenever he could.

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Authorities believe that a Brands Flat woman declared missing in 2014 is most likely dead, according to a search warrant, and for the first time disturbing details of her disappearance were made public in a court filing.

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Authorities said when Santiago's car was found, it appeared there was a violent struggle. Blood, believed to be Santiago's, was discovered at the scene and the rearview mirror to the vehicle was nearly torn off. Footprints were also located on the inside of the windshield, the search warrant said.

On. Jan. 29, the Augusta County Sheriff's Office, along with Albemarle County authorities and Virginia State Police, drained a septic tank at a Craigsville residence on West Village Circle, according to the warrant, after authorities were given a tip that Santiago's body was buried on the property.

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