Search continues for missing 74-year-old woman in Kazlų Rūda

Search efforts continued on Wednesday for 74-year-old Violeta Triponienė, who went missing while picking berries near the village of Papilvis in the Kazlų Rūda area on Sunday, LRT reported. Police officers with service dogs, volunteers, a helicopter and drones are involved in the search.

Another group of volunteers was due to meet at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday to continue searching in the evening.

Marijampolė County police spokesperson Ieva Petrulevičienė said the search also involved the woman’s relatives, friends, local residents and volunteers from the Lithuanian Red Cross.

A State Border Guard Service helicopter surveyed the search area on Monday. Police and privately hired drones, including one equipped with thermal imaging, have also been deployed. A volunteer K9 handler, police officers from the Kaunas and Alytus counties, members of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union and Public Security Service officers are taking part in the operation.

Foresters and hunting clubs have been notified, while footage from cameras installed in forests is being checked. All police patrols working in Lithuania have also been informed. Police have contacted hospitals in Marijampolė, Kazlų Rūda, Prienai and Kaunas, and sent information to hospitals across the country.

No belongings or other signs linked to the missing woman have been found so far. Several reports from residents about people who might have matched her description were checked but were not confirmed, Petrulevičienė said.

Volunteers organise search teams

A Facebook group called “Violetos paieška” has been created to coordinate the search. Volunteers share information there and mark searched locations on a special map. Red Cross volunteers are helping the woman’s relatives coordinate the operation.

Volunteers gathered at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Wednesday, with another group scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. The meeting point is at 54.8022866, 23.6266968.

According to the search group, volunteers are combing the forests in lines spaced 10 metres apart, moving forward in an effort to spot even the smallest trace. Residents have also been asked to check security cameras, dashcam footage and cameras near homesteads in the surrounding areas.

Triponienė was wearing blue clothing and a bluish-grey translucent raincoat made of material resembling greenhouse film. She had a small President Serek curd cheese tub with her.

Police said Triponienė went missing at about 4 p.m. on August 9 in a forest near the Aronijos sodai garden community. She has health problems, is about 160 centimetres tall and has a small build, with short greyish-white hair. She was wearing a blue sweater, blue jeans, a black hat resembling a Panama hat and light-coloured shoes with holes. She does not have a phone.