The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office alerted media at 6:30 this evening that 44-year-old Holly Williams was missing near County Road 1190, an offshoot of Oil Springs Road in Eureka Springs, just west of Tad’s Quick Stop. The woman was reported missing at 10 a.m. by her sister with whom she lived, according to ESPD Chief Thomas Achord.
Ms. Williams is 4 ft. 7 in., weighs 120 lbs., and is autistic. Achord said she hears and speaks well but is neither familiar nor comfortable with highway traffic. She does have other relatives in the area and knows how to get to their houses in daylight, but none has heard from her.
She had been in the car waiting for her sister but was gone a very short time later when the sister went out to the car.
Foul play is not suspected, according to an experienced searcher with a state agency who preferred not to be identified.
When she disappeared, Ms. Williams, who has straight blond hair, was wearing a bright yellow t-shirt, black shorts and black athletic shoes.
The sheriff’s office and Eureka Springs Police were joined by searchers from the Holiday Island SORT team, Tri-County Mennonite Search and Rescue, and the Arkansas Forest Service. As of 9:30 p.m. searchers were working in shifts and not in need of volunteers. People in these organizations said they train continuously for missing person emergencies, have access to horses, dogs and 4-wheelers, and have plenty of relievers to get them through the night. Several said that at this point it is better for trained personnel to be walking patterns in specific areas and be in radio communication than to worry about untrained searchers.
Two bloodhounds picked up a scent they found worthy of exploration, but that came to nothing. The dogs had been given items from Ms. Williams’s bathroom and bedroom to pick up her scent. Achord said a helicopter had come in before dark that belonged to “one of the power companies” whose pilot had been out checking lines, but he was unable to spot anything notable.
After searching for several hours a call came in from Madison County that a two-year-old boy had gone missing, so some volunteers left Black Bass Lake to assist down there. One Mennonite man said that didn’t leave this search shorthanded, they had more trained volunteers ready to replace them immediately.
Although there has not been a call for volunteers, there was an adjoining landowner who showed up and said he would search his land as he knew it so well. He was asked to sign his name and note the general area he planned to search, and come back and sign out when he returned so track could be kept of all searchers.
Anyone who thinks they know something helpful is asked to call the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, (870) 423-7373.