DIAMOND POINT — An extensive search-and-rescue effort has failed to locate a Diamond Point woman last seen three days before Christmas.
The Jan. 13-14 operation was the second of two organized searches for Heather Tegerdine, 41, since Dec. 31, said Brian King, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office chief criminal deputy.
King said Tegerdine is endangered due to her mental illness, which he would not specify, and for which she took an injected, quarterly-administered drug within days before her departure.
“We’ve had unsubstantiated sightings since she went missing,” King said Wednesday afternoon.
“However, we followed up on that and have been unable to determine if in fact it was her.”
Tegerdine, who is married, left her Diamond Point Road residence on foot — without her wallet and not wearing a coat — at about 8:30 p.m. Dec. 22.
She was wearing dark-colored sweat pants, a long-sleeve white T-shirt under a blue short-sleeve T-shirt, and white sneakers, King said.
Temperatures average about 45 degrees for that time of year.
The Sheriff’s Office waited until Dec. 31 to notify the public that Tegerdine was missing in the belief that she might return.
“She’s highly intelligent and has lived on her own for most of her adult life,” King said.
“She’s got a history of leaving for a few days at a time.
“The length of time now that’s she’s been gone increases our concern.”
King said Tegerdine often rides Clallam Transit buses.
“What we know from her family is that she had places that she frequented.”
Those places included west Port Angeles and the YMCA of Sequim.
Tegerdine lives about 3½ miles from the Diamond Point Road-U.S. Highway 101 intersection.
King said Clallam County search-and-rescue personnel scoured the residential area and neighboring beaches Dec. 31.
A second search Jan. 13-14 was conducted by rescue teams from Clallam, Mason, Kitsap and Jefferson counties that guided scent dogs and cadaver dogs through Diamond Point, surrounding timber lands and the Miller Peninsula.
King said Wednesday that a search warrant has been executed to obtain financial records to pinpoint any possible financial transactions by Tegerdine.
The companies had not produced the records as of Monday, King said Wednesday.
Anyone with information on Tegerdine’s whereabouts is asked to contact Sheriff’s Dispatch at 360-417-2459, the Sheriff’s Office at 360-417-2262 or leave an anonymous tip at websrv7.clallam.net/cnmaster-c/nwformeml.php.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
