Code Red Used—

Missing Woman Found In Sandy Hook Search

By Andrew Gorosko

Following a report of a woman missing in the vicinity of Honey Lane in Sandy Hook about 9 am Thursday, November 29, town police and others launched an intensive search amid the rugged wooded terrain in seeking to find her.

About 100 minutes after police received the report, the unidentified woman, who is in her 40s, was found uninjured along Jordan Hill Road, near the Monroe town line, by her friends who had been alerted that the woman was missing, said Police Chief Michael Kehoe.

Newtown police called in Sandy Hook firefighters, Monroe police, and a tracking dog to aid them in their search for the missing woman, Chief Kehoe said. Also, Newtown police had called state police in seeking to have the state police helicopter aid them in the search, but that request was dropped after the woman was found, the police chief said.

Because foliage had already fallen from the trees in the woods, a helicopter would have been useful to allow a spotter to peer down into the forest looking for the missing woman.

To alert the public in that geographic area that police were searching for the woman, police used the town’s Code Red emergency notification system. Through that system, the town placed approximately 300 automated telephone calls to people in that area notifying them that a search was in progress, Chief Kehoe said. When the woman was later found, a second set of Code Red automated telephone calls was placed explaining that the woman had been located, Chief Kehoe said.

Chief Kehoe said that police had received a telephone call about 9:04 am in which the caller reported concern about a missing woman.

“We were concerned about her health, welfare, and safety,” so police mounted a search for the woman, the police chief said. He declined to specific about why the woman went missing.

The search occurred in the area of Honey Lane, Indian Hill Lane, Serenity Lane, and Jordan Hill Road. Those roads are off Route 34, near the Monroe town line.

Following the incident, ambulance volunteers transported the woman to Danbury Hospital to be checked, Chief Kehoe said.