UPDATE: Search continues for woman reported missing after going hiking with dogs
By Kirsten Glavin
@kirstenglavin
EXETER, RI – Police and DEM officials suspended their search for the night Wednesday, for a missing woman that was last seen hiking in the Arcadia forest area. The search is scheduled to resume Thursday morning.
59-year-old Patti Pendleton was last spoken to on Monday around 11:00 a.m. and was reported missing the following day by her family, after she didn’t show up for work.
"I hope they find her… I just really hope they find her," said Pendelton’s cousin, Gail Nichols. Nichols told ABC6 that Pendelton injured her pelvis about a month and a half ago, and as a result, had trouble standing up straight and walking.
"She had nerve problems going down her legs and she couldn’t stand up straight," Nichols said, adding Pendelton has a scheduled surgery for the injury sometime next week. "If she had fallen somewhere, maybe she would have been unable to walk afterwards."
Nichols described her cousin as a caring woman and an animal lover. She said Pendelton spent 10-15 years volunteering at 4-H with her granddaughter. "They always did the Washington county fair every year and showed cows and farm animals and plants."
Nichols and one of Pendelton’s two sons joined search teams Wednesday, looking for any sign of her or her dogs.
She was believed to be hiking on a trail south of Route 165 in the Arcadia Management Area in Exeter, near Beach Pond. She was walking her two dogs on a harness – a black toy poodle and a black fox terrier – both wearing orange vests. Her car was found in the lot nearby.
Pendleton is described as 5’2” tall, weighing approximately 230 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a purple sweater over a flowered shirt, blue jeans, and hiking boots, and maybe an orange vest and orange hat.
"The fact that they haven’t found her or her dogs, is scary to me. I don’t know what happened to her," said Nichols.
Multiple law enforcement agencies and search teams are out looking for Pendleton. Anyone with information is asked to contact Coventry Police at 401-826-1100.
© WLNE-TV 2016
