This weeks guests include:

• Mike Melson & Tracy Mayo, discussing the search for missing person Nita Mayo
• Drew Kesse, discussing the search for missing person Jennifer Kesse
• Stephanie Good, New York Times Bestselling Author of Exposed and her new book A Rush To Injustice

Officials say the August disappearance of Nita Mayo has been re-classified as a case of a “missing person with suspicious circumstances.”

They aren’t releasing details about the decision to change the classification.

Mayo told a friend the morning she was last seen that she planned to drive through Sonora Pass for a daylong shopping trip.

Mayo’s car was discovered with her purse, cell-phone and keys inside around Donnell Vista on Highway 108 shortly after she disappeared.

Previous posts

Crews from the TV show “America’s Most Wanted” were in Tuolumne County over the weekend, filming a segment on the search for a Nevada woman, now missing for more than two months.

Producers say the show on the search for Nita Mayo will run in late November or early December.

Last weekend’s search was organized by Tim Miller, a Texas man who founded a horse-mounted search-and-rescue group, EquuSearch, in 2000 in memory of his daughter Laura who was abducted and murdered in 1984.

“America’s Most Wanted” producers focused their story on Miller and EquuSearch, but featured the story about the search for Mayo as the type of work Miller does.

Nita Mayo’s children flew out to California for the large scale search in hopes of finding clues to their mother’s whereabouts and at the very least gaining national exposure to the case.

“We will finally reach people who have information, but did not know that they had it because they did not know she is missing,” said Tracy Mayo, the youngest of Nita Mayo’s four adult children.

“We had an amazing showing of support by many wonderful and caring people, people that I feel privileged to call friends now,” she added.

The family remains united in their goals of finding their mother and vows, “We will never give up”. Even though the investigators remain stumped over the disappearance of Nita Mayo.

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s investigators remain stumped over what happened to Mayo. Her purse, wallet, car keys, and other personal items were locked inside her silver Mercury Sable station wagon.

Investigators have followed up on dozens of leads and possible sightings in California and Nevada that have gone nowhere, said Lt. Keith Lunney. They have repeatedly questioned her friends, co-workers and acquaintances.

Mayo’s bank account has not been touched, her credit cards have not been used, she was not in the middle of any personal turmoil, her family and friends say, and was scheduled to be at work the day after her day trip over Sonora Pass.

There is a $10,000 reward for the safe return of Nita Mayo. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department at 533-5815.

OCTOBER 5, 2005: A major search is being organized for missing Hawthorne, Nevada woman, Nita Mayo on Saturday and Sunday, October 15th and 16th. I, Tracy Mayo, along with my Family, as well as Tim Miller from Texas EquuSearch, Shawn Rocha, and Carole Sund Carrington Foundation will be organizing this search.

Nita Mayo has been missing since August 8, 2005 when she had breakfast with a friend that morning before she left for Sonora Pass.

Missing Since: August 8, 2005

Age: 64

Missing From: Sonora Pass (Hwy 108)

Sex: Female Height: 5 ft. Weight: 140 lbs.

Eye Color: Hazel

Hair Color: Dark Brown w/ ends frosted Race: Caucasian Complexion: Fair Birth Date: February 9, 1941 Those that are organizing the search are calling on volunteers for the search and recovery effort.

Anyone wishing to join in on this search is asked to meet at the Strawberry Inn in Strawberry, CA (Hwy 108) at 9am the 15th and/or 16th. We are especially requesting people with Horses, ATVs, dog teams, and Jeeps to help us in our search for our Mom, Nita Mayo.

We feel it is absolutely imperative that we get as many people as possible to help us as we are fully aware that Winter is coming to the Sierra Mountains and we need to find her and bring her home. Please help us in our continued search for our Mother….your support is greatly appreciated.

Please call the Tuolumne County Sheriff Department at 209-533-5815. Please call Texas EquuSearch at 281-309-9500 or Toll-free (877) 270-9500. Fax: 281-534-6719 Case # C05-2406 TES Case # 05-465

Related Posts:
Nita Mayo Missing Since August 8, 2005 in Sonora, CA/Texas EquuSearch Joins Search

Search efforts and a fund raiser are planned over the Labor Day weekend for Nita Mayo

Authorities seeking woman in connection with Nita Mayo disappearance

For the last 45 days, Mayo’s four grown children have been doing everything possible to find her and to keep this without-a-trace missing person case in the public eye.

Pete Mayo had stated that, “really wanted on his 40th birthday was to spend time with his mother and have some of her homemade cookies”. However, yesterday Pete Mayo found himself pleading for clues as to his mother’s whereabouts at a press conference in Modesto.

“I just asked for help,” Pete Mayo said of the press conference. “I made a plea to deer hunters coming up to the mountains to keep and eye out for anything unusual.”

On his own and with brother-in-law Matt Taylor, Pete Mayo has searched most roads, trails, campgrounds, overlooks, points of interest, cabins, trailers, abandoned vehicles and untold natural rock formations between Strawberry and Kennedy Meadows.

Pete Mayo may have discovered what could be a clue from his mother’s house in a note she had previously wrote.

Wednesday night he was at his mother’s Hawthorne house and found a note Nita Mayo had written about a trip she took over Sonora Pass on July 3.

“The note just said she was on the part of Sonora Pass that Steve (her boss) had told her about,” Pete Mayo said. “She was looking out over a meadow and listening to the sounds of the mountains.”

He said he would show the note to investigators.

Full story

Nita Mayo Discussion Forum

Her four children — out of financial necessity — have left Tuolumne County and returned to their homes and jobs after almost five weeks of relentless but fruitless searching.

Tuolumne County investigators say they have not given up, but have made no announcements in weeks concerning the investigation and refuse to talk about the case.

However, in Mayo’s hometown of Hawthorne, on the other side of the Sierra Nevada, hope is still alive.

Full text of story

Nita Mayo vanished one month ago and a $10,000 reward is now offered for her safe return.

Mayo’s four children are frantically trying to find their mother after the 63-year-old woman vanished August 8, during a shopping trip to Sonora, California.

Mayo’s was found, but there was no trace of her. Now, her family is pleading for your help in finding her.

In an effort to attract national attention to the baffling case, the Carole Sund-Carrington Foundation and Equusearch, are offering $5,000 each for Mayo’s safe return.

Because the area where her car was found is near a resort area, Mayo’s family is concerned that a tourist may have seen her, or witnessed and incident, but then left the area and is unaware that Mayo is missing.

Anyone with information in this case is urged to call the sheriffs department at 800-228-3592.

Recent posts:
Search efforts and a fund raiser are planned over the Labor Day weekend for Nita Mayo

Discussion Forum for Missing Persons

Search efforts and a fund raiser are planned over the Labor Day weekend to help find Nita Mayo, a Nevada woman who has been missing since she left on a trip over Sonora Pass on Aug. 8.

Volunteer searchers enlisted by Mayo’s four children and her son-in-law will be out over the next three days, scouring the mountains between Kennedy Meadows and Strawberry.

The effort is being coordinated by Texas Equusearch, a nonprofit search and rescue organization that has also been helping in Aruba in the search for missing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway.

Mayo’s family is asking anyone camping, hiking and fishing in the Sonora Pass area to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

Tomorrow there will be a benefit to raise money for the Nita Mayo search.

Tomorrow night, a benefit concert will be held in Twain Harte to raise money and awareness to help find Mayo, a 64-year-old nurse from Hawthorne. The Silvermoon All Stars band will wear shirts with Mayo’s picture on them as they perform from 6 to 8 p.m. at Eproson Park.

The events of this case are as follows according to all information available from law enforcement in Tuolumne County and in Mineral County, Nevada.

1. Mayo left Hawthorne around 11 a.m. on Aug. 8 for a day trip over Sonora Pass
2. She told a friend she wanted to visit a “village” on the other side of Sonora Pass and was to return home so she could be at work the following day.
3. Mayo never returned, and her car was found on Aug. 10 at the Donnell Vista parking lot.
4. It had been there since Aug. 8, according to a Caltrans worker who saw it there two days before deputies found it.
5. A refrigerator magnet and postcards purchased at Strawberry General Store were found in Mayo’s car along with her purse, cellular phone, wallet, credit cards, money and food.
6. Jewel Rice, of Colorado Springs, Colo., was driving a rental car that got stuck on a U.S. Forest Service road near Strawberry. Between Aug. 7 and 12, she sought help in freeing the car. After Aug. 12, she left without her vehicle.
7. Rice’s car has since been searched and impounded.

Please note the following information for future fund raising and volunteering:

Next weekend, on Sept. 10, Mt. Grant Hospital workers are also sponsoring a 5K walk-run to raise money for the search effort.

Anyone who wants to volunteer for this weekend’s search should be at Dardanelle Resort at 8 a.m. Saturday.

The reward for the safe return of Nita Mayo is now up to $10,000 thanks to the equal contributions from the Texas Equusearch and the Carole Sund-Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation.

Related Posts:
Authorities seeking woman in connection with Nita Mayo disappearance

Discussion Forum for Missing Persons

The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office wants to question a woman in connection with the disappearance of Nita Mayo.

Tuolumne County officials say they are interested in talking to 39-year-old Jewel Jeanne Rice of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Mayo, a 64-year-old Hawthorne resident, was last seen when she left to go shopping near Sonora, California. Her car was later found abandoned in Tuolumne County.

Officials say Rice, who also uses the alias Atencio, was in the area at the time of Mayo’s disappearance. They say Rice’s car may have had mechanical problems and that it is possible she was looking for help with her vehicle.

Authorities are not calling Rice a suspect in Mayo’s disappearance, only that she may be a possible witness. She is described as being a white, female, standing 5’1″ tall and weighing 185 pounds. She has brown hair and hazel eyes.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Nita Mayo, or Rice, please call the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office at 1-800-228-3592

Related Posts:
Mayo search efforts expands with Texas Equusearch
Nita Mayo Missing Since August 8, 2005 in Sonora, CA

Discussion Forum for Missing Persons

Missing Since: August 8, 2005  
Age: 64 
Missing From: Sonora Pass (Hwy 108) 
Sex: Female
Height: 5 ft. 
Weight: 140 lbs.
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Dark Brown w/ ends frosted
Race: Caucasian
Complexion: Fair
Birth Date: February 9, 1941

Last seen wearing: Nita was last seen wearing a yellow shirt with blue jeans and white sandals. We do know since we were told this that Nita did change her shirt as it was found at her house as were her white sandals. After looking through Nita’s clothes it is believed that she may be wearing jeans and white tennis shoes, type of top is unknown. 
  
Last Seen: Nita Mayo was last seen around 10:00 a.m. on August 8, 2005. She had breakfast with a friend that morning before she left for Sonora Pass. She was supposed to call her friend, Pat Beavers, when she arrived back home from her drive. She did not call but Pat just felt that she had just arrived home too late to call her. When she did not show up for work on Tuesday, at Mt. Grant hospital, the Head of Nursing called to see if Nita was home. When she did not answer or call back, Jan Kollodge went to Nita’s house to check on her, but no one was home. She then checked with Pat B. who informed Jan of Nita’s plans the day before. At this time calls were made to the California and Nevada Highway Patrol. 
  
Please call the Tuolumne County Sheriff Department at 209-533-5815.
Please call Texas EquuSearch at 281-309-9500 or Toll-free (877) 270-9500. Fax: 281-534-6719
 
Case # C05-2406 
TES Case # 05-465 
 
Prepared by: Texas EquuSearch Mounted Search and Recovery Team
Download Flyers From: www.texasequusearch.org

Email: texas_equusearch@hotmail.com

Update: Volunteer Group Will Aid Sierra Search for Missing Nevada Woman

Nearly three weeks after she disappeared in the Sierra Nevada, family and friends of 64-year-old Nita Mayo are hoping the efforts of a renowned volunteer search organization can help bring the Hawthorne, Nevada, woman home.

Members of Texas EquuSearch, a horse-mounted volunteer missing persons recovery organization, began arriving Friday to join in the search.

Mayo’s 1997 silver Mercury Sable was found by a Tuolumne County Sheriff’s sergeant two days later at the Donnell Vista parking lot along Highway 108. Mayo’s purse, cell phone, and keys were still inside.

The Modesto-based Carole Sund-Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation has offered a $5,000 reward for Mayo’s safe return.

To discuss this go to the Missing Persons Discussion Forum