Las Vegas NowVolunteers Aid in Search For Missing Las Vegas Woman

Volunteers Aid in Search For Missing Las Vegas Woman

It's been more than a week and a half since an 81-year-old woman vanished.

Monday morning, Metro police officers and volunteers canvassed a three-and-a-half mile area around East Flamingo and Nellis between Parsons' home and Sam's Town, including the Flamingo Wash.

And nearly 100 family members, friends and neighbors gathered outside Parsons' home for a prayer vigil on Sunday night. They are clinging to the hope that Parsons could soon be found.

"It would take a miracle, but I do believe in miracles," said the woman's daughter, Carol Holt.

It was on Thursday, Aug. 30th that Parsons disappeared, and police are still trying to figure out how the contents of her purse got inside Sam's Town casino.

Parsons' friends and family have had to endure eleven long days so far. It's been tough even for the search volunteers who don't even know Opal Parsons.

Maria Barton, volunteer searcher, said, "I feel the pain of the family. Secondly, I remember my mom."  Barton spent her day off from work walking alongside a drainage ditch looking for Parsons. "I'm really touched. I wish I could so something more."

Members of the Nevada Center for Missing Loved Ones covered a three-mile area along Nellis Boulevard.

"Hope for the best and pray something comes out of it because we do have to put a closure to it one way or the other," said Frank Mahoney, with the group.

Police searched Parsons' home up and down. Monday, they've taken the search to an area around her house. The area includes thick brush and tall grass, and somewhere in there, they're hoping to find any clue that could shed some light on this mystery.

At one point, searchers spotted woman's clothing under a bridge. They hoped it would be a critical clue, but now they don't believe it was Parsons'.

Metro says Monday's search did not turn up any new leads, but they're still looking for this 81-year-old lady who vanished without a trace.

Sergeant Tom Wagner, with Metro Missing Persons, said, "We'll go back to the office. We got some other interviews to do with people of interest and/or family members. We want to make sure we interview everybody."

And volunteers, who just know Parsons by her photograph, continue to hope and pray for a miracle.

Metro says the only thing they've found of Parson's since her disappearance were her ID and ATM card, which were used at Sam's Town.

Detectives say the man who used them is not a suspect at this point because he found her purse in a dumpster.

Last week, police added bloodhounds to the search. When Metro summoned local media to a news conference last Friday, there was hope that new leads had surfaced but it turned out a person of interest would not be arrested.

If you have any information at all, please call CrimeStoppers at 385-5555.

E-mail your comments to Reporter Aaron Drawhorn.