Dec 6, 2007 12:29 am US/Pacific
Search Suspended For Missing Mt. Tamalpais Hiker
MARIN COUNTY (BCN) ―
A two-day, 100-person search for a missing Mill Valley woman thought to have been hiking trails on Mt. Tamalpais has been indefinitely suspended, the Mill Valley Police Department said Wednesday night.
Authorities found no trace of 25-year-old Veronica Ruiz after combing the east side of the mountain and areas nearby since early Tuesday. The search was suspended at 6 p.m. Wednesday and a hold on the search will continue until investigators find new leads, police said.
Ruiz, an Internal Revenue Service worker who family members say was upset over a breakup with her boyfriend, told friends she was planning to hike mountain trails at around 2 p.m. Monday, according to Mill Valley police Detective Lindsay Haynes.
She was reported missing later that day at 10 p.m.
Searchers concentrated but did not limit their search to the east side of Mt. Tamalpais, in areas Ruiz was most familiar, police said.
A team of 50 police officers, park rangers, search and rescue officials and volunteers scoured the mountain Tuesday and another 50 were added to the search today. The effort also included search dogs, two aircrafts, an all terrain vehicle and horses, Haynes said.
Police are encouraging anyone with information on Ruiz's whereabouts to contact Sgt. G. Dean Loutas at (415) 389-4100.
Ruiz is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall, 120 pounds, with dark brown hair and brown eyes, a light brown complexion and a scar on her right abdomen.
Her family said she was possibly wearing trail running shoes, black running Capri pants and carrying a gray and orange Camelback water supply.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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