The search for a missing woman continued in a two-day search party last week in Morley. Cochrane RCMP along with about 45 search and rescue volunteers trudged through the rain while scouring the First Nation reserve in hopes of finding any clues that could point towards the whereabouts of Sara Coates. The then 30-year-old was last seen by her mom, Dubhe, in the Stanley Park neighborhood of Calgary on Aug. 2, 2012, and was officially reported missing to police in December of the same year. Sara, described with red hair and blue eyes, had been living in the Radium-Columbia Valley area of British Columbia in a 1992 blue Chevy Astro van with her pets for about a year before she disappeared. In October 2013, a Morley resident discovered the van on the Stoney Nakoda First Nation, which belonged to Sara. "There's no need to search outside of Morley," Dubhe said, who attended the search party on June 13 and 14. "Something happened to my daughter in Morley." "The officers know what they're doing, I have complete faith in the Cochrane RCMP officers," she said. "My family and I are extremely grateful for Cochrane RCMP having the case and for all the work the search and rescue people have done over the years for my daughter." Corporal Troy Savinkoff with Cochrane RCMP said while no further clues turned up in the recent investigation, the detachment will conduct further searches in the future. "The areas searched were part of a larger search plan identified after previous searches. We felt that by going to these locations at this time of the year we would maximize our effectiveness." Savinkoff said. " We have not forgotten about Sara and will continue to make every effort to find her." "(It's) a personal one for me," Savinkoff added, who has been on the case for the last few years. "I've gotten to know the family and invested a fair amount of time as have the other investigators involved. When you've invested that kind of time in it and you get to know the family surrounding the missing person, you do feel quite invested in it." Police urge anyone who may have had contact with Sara Coates or her Chevy Astro van in and around the above dates, or any other information in connection with the case, to contact the Cochrane detachment at (403) 851-8000, Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or on the internet at www.tipsubmit.com. — With files from Tammy Marlowe Johnson
