TRENTON, Ga. — Search teams, tracking dogs and a helicopter crew again Wednesday scoured Cloudland Canyon State Park to search for a missing Rock Spring woman, and again came up empty.

Judy Charlene Payne, 46, was last seen by her husband as she headed to work in the Chattanooga area about 7 a.m. Monday, said Kim Hatcher, spokeswoman for Georgia State Parks.

The search began soon after Mrs. Payne’s black Mazda Miata was found at 10:30 p.m. Monday by a ranger at the park atop Lookout Mountain. Personal belongings had been left in the car, which had no evidence of break-in or other crime.

Searchers still had no other sign of the missing woman as the effort wound down Wednesday, but the search was to resume today, Ms. Hatcher said.

The park remains closed while the search is ongoing, she said.

Meanwhile, Ms. Hatcher said a family spokesperson asked her to circulate a statement from Mrs. Payne’s loved ones.

“We would like to express appreciation for everything that the search crews and volunteers are doing, and we ask that people pray for Judy’s safe return,” she read.

Mrs. Payne’s car is being processed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said John Bankhead, GBI spokesman. He said GBI is assisting local law enforcement and an FBI agent from the Rossville office in the investigation.

“We follow up on every aspect of what might have happened to her,” Mr. Bankhead said about the investigation. “What we’ve done so far hasn’t produced anything at this point.”

He emphasized it’s a missing person case; there is no indication of foul play, and, “We don’t have any suspects.”

Mr. Bankhead said FBI agent assistance was standard procedure for a missing person situation near the bureau’s Rossville office.

Search teams, police and volunteers have faced a difficult task over a rugged landscape and in changing weather, Ms. Hatcher said. The park has at least 10 miles of trails within its 3,500 acres that includes steep canyons and bluffs.

Despite rains that dampened the park area Monday night, Tuesday and again on Wednesday, search teams continued looking for Mrs. Payne, she said.

There are two sides to searching in the rain.

“The good thing is it pushes scent down into the canyon, where dogs can more easily pick up the scent,” she said.

But rain also make rocks slick and steep, muddy ground dangerous for searchers in an area Ms. Hatcher called some of the “most rugged terrain in Georgia.”

A Georgia State Patrol helicopter again swept the canyon Wednesday, but reported no new information.

More than 40 personnel from the Dade County and Walker County sheriff’s departments, the GBI, Georgia State Patrol, the Department of Natural Resources and New Salem and Trenton fire departments have been assisting in the search.

Also providing technical support were Dade County Mountain Rescue, members of the North Alabama Search Dog Association and numerous other volunteers, Ms. Hatcher said.

Mrs. Payne is white, has brown hair, is 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighs 140 pounds and was last seen wearing a blue shirt and blue jeans, according to a police description.

Comments