QUILCENE — Residents of Quilcene are preparing to rally today as the community searches for answers in the disappearance of a 16-year-old girl.
Since Bailey E. Scott left her home the night of Feb. 2, the entire community has been worried, said Erin Yeakel, the garden coordinator at Quilcene School.
“This is not a candlelight vigil,” Yeakel said. “This is an opportunity for our community to come together to support the search for Bailey and to share loving intentions and to organize the next steps to find Bailey.”
The rally is set for 3 p.m. today in downtown Quilcene, she said. Yeakel’s goals for the rally are to get the community together, to spread accurate information and to make it known that the intention is that Bailey is found safe.
Bailey left a note Friday night that said she would be away for the night, but she did not return home, where she lives with her aunt, and did not show up at school Monday, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
She is described as 5-feet-6-inches tall, weighing 120 pounds. She has blue eyes and brown hair.
Yeakel said Bailey’s disappearance has affected just about everyone in the small town.
“We’ve had counselors available [at the school] and everybody is really worried,” she said. “The adults are worried and there are a lot of rumors.”
Bailey’s aunt, Roxann Anderson, said she couldn’t be more thankful for the community’s help she has already received.
“I’ve never felt so cared about,” she said. “Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to get her face or information out.
“This community is absolutely amazing and full of decent caring people.”
She said everybody is praying for Bailey and everybody wants to help, but that it has been unbearable since Bailey left.
“I don’t eat, I don’t sleep,” she said, with her voice breaking. “It’s the worst you could ever imagine. I don’t think any parents here in Quilcene are getting any rest.”
Anderson said earlier this week that all she wants to know is that Bailey is OK.
Bailey likely would have been wearing a black The North Face jacket, leggings and black Ugg boots with bows, her aunt said, adding that she doesn’t know how Bailey was dressed because she last saw her in pajamas.
Anderson said Bailey left in the middle of the night. She took a small backpack with her, though it isn’t big enough to carry extra clothes, Anderson said. She left her phone charger behind, as well as family photos.
Anyone who has any information about Bailey’s whereabouts is encouraged to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 360-344-9779.
________
Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
