WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. — On Friday, March 10, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office responded to a missing persons report for 67-year-old Julie Montague-Ayers.
According to her husband, Roy Ayers, the couple was on their typical walk from their home with their dog that morning. As Ayers and his wife went back and forth over which direction to go, their dog ran off, which wasn’t unusual, according to Ayers.
“I took off after the dog and left Julie right here,” Ayers said, pointing to the spot at the beginning of a trail near his home in the Peaceful Valley neighborhood near Kendall.
When he got back to the spot where he left his wife, she was gone. Ayers quickly got in touch with their children and his a family - they looked for Julie for several hours and waited for her to come home.
Just before 2 p.m., the sheriff’s office said Ayers called 911.
A post from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office detailed the massive effort that began to find Julie.
Julie’s dementia diagnosis makes this an even more dire situation.
"It wasn't the, like, wrong thing to do except afterward. I looked at it and, of course, it was the wrong thing to do - it was a mistake,” Ayers said.
Erin Suda, Julie’s daughter, said they had no reason to fear their mom would wander off.
"She's still very capable of navigating in the areas where she's most familiar,” Suda said. “She had been lost before when she was still driving and that was really scary, but we haven't lost her in a while."
Suda said each time her mom ended up lost, she was able to find help to get back home. However, Suda was thinking ahead.
“We'd been shopping for trackers. I've been thinking about and talking about getting her a tracker. A piece of jewelry she could wear. We just hadn't quite picked out the right one,” she said. “It felt a little bit challenging - what was going to work for her - because she's someone who considers herself very capable, doesn't need people tracking her."
Suda said around 50 people, including family, friends, and neighbors, came out to help the family search for her mother. Signs of support, including fliers filled with information, are posted in several places urging people to call 911 if they have a tip that could help police bring Julie home. A Silver Alert has also been issued. Neighbors provided the family with surveillance video showing the husband and wife walking toward the trails.
Despite the official ground search being suspended, the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office said it's still working this case. They were out searching the trails on Wednesday. They plan to have dogs come back out in the next several days.
Julie's family plans to continue looking for her, leaning on their faith during this difficult time
"She's in God's care and keeping. She's safe every step of the way and she's going to come home,” Ayers said.