Community search effort includes bloodhounds, flyers, supporters
Miranda Conner last seen Feb. 3 at Federal Heights apartment complex
Family, friends and supporters of a missing Denver woman gathered Saturday at an apartment complex where she was last seen, canvassing the area, handing out flyers and hoping to gain a lead to her whereabouts.
Miranda Conner, 30, was last seen early Feb. 3 at an apartment complex off the northwest corner of West 85th Avenue and Pecos Street, according to Denver police.
About 40 people showed up at 10 a. m. Saturday, splitting up into groups and working their way through the complex and beyond.
Conner’s mother, Tabitha Spann, traveled from Mesa, Ariz., where she lives, to take part in the effort, coordinated as a “search and rescue.”
“We are looking for her. We are looking for any signs of her,” Spann said. “She was last seen here.”
Conner’s cellphone was found discarded on the apartment complex grounds, Spann said. It was returned to Conner’s roommate, who turned over the phone to police investigators.
This month police announced that Conner was last seen in the Green Valley Ranch area, where she lives, but that has been revised during the investigation.
Tracy Thomas, a friend of Spann’s, handed a flyer to a woman who was leaving her apartment and heading to her
car. As Thomas explained the situation, the woman said, “Oh, that’s scary.” Flyers also were left with a nearby business, and some of the people canvassing the neighborhood taped flyers to sign posts. One man among the group of supporters wiped back tears after viewing the missingperson flyer, which includes a photograph of Conner.
Conner, who doesn’t have a car, had gone to Federal Heights “to meet someone,” Spann said. “Someone picked her up at home ( in Green Valley Ranch) and brought her here.”
A single parent, Conner is a stay- at- home mother of two children, a boy, 11, and a 9- year- old girl. The children are safe with their grandfather in Mesa. Conner has struggled with drug dependency;
she’s also been arrested for prostitution, Spann said.
“I’m staying strong for the kids,” a determined Spann said.
On Saturday several dogs, including two bloodhounds, smelled clothing of Conner’s brought to the site in a sack. All the dogs headed north toward a frozen, small lake adjacent to the apartments. Most of the dogs circled the lake; one bloodhound headed farther north to a nearby apartment complex then circled back.
One dog alerted to a discarded piece of purple clothing, Conner was last seen wearing purple. A dog keyed in on a particular unit in the complex and to a dumpster there. The information, and potential evidence,
was passed on to police.
Denver and Federal Heights police continue to investigate Conner’s disappearance. A $ 2,000 reward is being offered by Metro Denver Crime Stoppers, for information leading to her whereabouts. The Dock Ellis Foundation, a nonprofit that helps to find missing, murdered and marginalized minority persons, and Justice Takes Flight, a nonprofit providing volunteers to assist with flyers, support and resources were part of Saturday’s effort.
“I’m feeling that she might not be alive,” Spann said. “But we have to do something. I’m not going to give up.”
Anyone with information on Conner’s whereabouts is asked to call 720- 913- 7867.