CAWKER CITY, Kan. (AP) — Volunteers and law enforcement were searching Tuesday for a woman whose car was found abandoned in a snowy ditch in rural north-central Kansas after a blizzard.
Mitchell County sheriff's Deputy Jason Miner said there was "zero visibility" Sunday morning when 37-year-old Tanya Eshbaugh called her work to report she couldn't get there and was turning around to go home. After she didn't show up for work on Monday, authorities started looking for her. They went to her apartment in Cawker City and found her car missing.
Miner said the Kansas Highway Patrol had tagged the vehicle several hours earlier after finding it in a ditch along U.S. 24 near Glen Elder State Park. The sheriff's department said she is believed to have left her vehicle after it got stuck and walked off in an unknown direction. The vehicle is surrounded by drifting snow and there are no footprints, Miner said.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Kevin Skow said the area where she disappeared received from 5 to 7 inches (about 13 to 18 centimeters) of snow. The storm temporarily shut down Interstate 70, closed dozens of school districts and several college campuses in Kansas. As the storm hit, Gov. Jeff Colyer declared a state of emergency.
Miner said the search for her is focused on a 3-mile (about 5 kilometer) radius around where her car was found. Miner said the search crew of about 20 people also is looking in the area where her cell phone last pinged.
Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call law enforcement.
She is described as having hair that is dyed a red-purple color. The sheriff's department said she may be wearing a Nebraska Cornhusker jacket.
