A local family remains interested in information that might lead to the whereabouts of an Altoona woman who has been missing almost 13 years.
Shelly Nagle of Altoona has started a Facebook page called Sherry Missing Person Leighty so she can receive information that might help her learn what happened to her younger sister.
"I don't want to think the worst, but with her having been gone this long, obviously we have thought of that," Nagle said.
Nagle's brother, Shawn, has been in touch with the Altoona police whose detectives are reviewing the case, Police Chief Janice Freehling said.
"We have more technology available, so we'll assist the family however we can," she said.
In a Feb. 18, 2000, story, the Mirror reported that Sherry Jean Leighty of Altoona, then 21 years old and the mother of three children, hadn't been seen locally in five months.
Fact Box
Missing person
Who: Sherry Jean Leighty
Last seen: September 1999, then 21 years old; she would now be 33.
Family seeks information: www.facebook.com
/sherry.j.leighty
Shawn Dumm: 814-515-2955
Altoona police: 949-2489
Leighty's father, Sheldon Dumm of Altoona, sought the Mirror's help in printing the story, hoping to attract some type of contact that would help locate his daughter. Dumm, who died in 2005, had gone to the Altoona police for help finding his daughter.
But because Leighty was an adult and because friends reported hearing Leighty talk about moving to Maine with a boyfriend, the department concluded that it didn't have a case to investigate.
In the Mirror's 2000 story, police reported entering Sherry Jean Leighty's name into "an attempt to locate" computer database so they would be alerted if and when any law enforcement officer encountered her.
Freehling said there have been no alerts.
Nagle said she has been using the Internet to search for her sister or information about her sister's whereabouts.
Sherry Leighty's name is not in the National Crime Information Center's missing persons database, because it didn't meet the criteria when she went missing, Freehling said. Detectives reviewing the case will decide if that should change, Freehling said.
"The best-case scenario is that if she did run off, then maybe somebody has seen her," Nagle said. "But I don't see her having been gone this long without trying to reach us or her kids. My dad, he always had the same phone number."
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.
