Police still looking for missing woman

Search dogs combed a wooded area near the Independence apartment of Nancy Harris, a woman who police have been looking for since she was reported missing since January.

The search last weekend, which consisted of two cadaver dogs, handlers and Independence police detectives assigned to the case, came up empty, public information officer Tom Gentry said.

Police searched a wooded area east of  Missouri 291 and south of 23rd Street, close to where she lived at 1815 Brookstone Village Court.

Gentry said police had exhausted all leads in the disappearance and rereleased information on the case in hopes the public can provide new leads.

The 64-year-old Harris was last seen by a medical compliance worker who visited her apartment on Dec. 28, 2007. Rex Springfield, Harris’s brother, was at her apartment on Jan. 2 and 3, and he said there was no sign that she was there.

Harris is hypogylycemic (low blood sugar) and takes several types of medication. She has not been in contact with her physician. According to police, Harris does not have a vehicle and she doesn’t drive. If she’s on her own, most likely she will be on foot.

“It looks like we’ve lost any hope of traceability or follow ups,” Rex Springfield said Friday.

Bret Springfield, his son and Harris’ nephew, had been living with Harris since early December after losing his job.

Bret had used her ATM card after her disappearance, Rex said, and was living in Idaho. Rex said he believes his son is currently living in Augusta, Kan., east of Wichita. Police have said her bank account had indeed been accessed through use of an ATM.

However, Gentry said Bret Springfield is not a suspect. He hesitated to even call him a person of interest.  Detectives talked with Bret after the disappearance.

Harris is described as 64 years old, 5-foot-2, weighing 92 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.  

If anyone has any information regarding the whereabouts of Nancy Harris, please call the Tips Hotline at 474-TIPS (8477) or the Independence Police Department at 816-325-7330.