WELD COUNTY, Colo. — Loved ones of a missing Colorado woman spent Thursday morning searching for the 20-year-old, who they described as a family-oriented sweetheart who would never go "off the radar."
Kaylee Russell, who lives in Evans, was last seen around 6 p.m. on Nov. 30 near the Loveland/Johnstown Park-N-Ride, according to a Dec. 2 endangered missing alert issued by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The parking lot is near Highway 402 and Interstate 25. CBI said that day that investigators were concerned for her safety.
On Thursday morning, Denver7 received a tip about a possible car in a body of water in the area where Russell disappeared. We went to the scene — which was near the Johnstown Ready Mix Plant — and found first responders searching the water. Around 11:30 a.m., crews began clearing the scene and the Weld County Sheriff's Office wrote on social media that "after dive and drone teams conducted a thorough search, no vehicle was found."
Denver7's Veronica Acosta spoke with some family friends that showed up at the mix plant to speak to them about the ongoing search for Russell.
Faith Campbell, a family friend, said the community search was the second of the week. She said the search party drove difference routes around where they believed Russell would have traveled.
"It was really icy Sunday night, so we're hoping that maybe she slid off and just needs help," Campbell said.
She told Denver7 that Russell had a flat tire, called her dad for help and he came out to replace it and then was helping her finish delivering packages. She then brought him back to his pickup, and he explained a route for her to follow. Investigators previously said that drop-off happened at the Park-n-Ride, and that she was headed to a friend's house afterward, but never showed up.
That was the last time anybody spoke to her, Campbell said.
The below image shows the car she was driving when she disappeared. It is a black 2016 Volkswagen Tiguan.
Anne Bauer, another family friend, said the search party had previously checked all of the routes Russell would have taken away from the parking lot.
"We just don't have any answers," Bauer said. "We don't have any leads. She is just gone, and we can't find anything. And so we're just hoping to get everybody out here, anybody that has resources to help us look. We need we just want to find her. We want some answers."
Campbell described Russell as very social, so it was unusual to not hear from her for so long.
"She's a sweetheart, totally super family-oriented, loves her friends and family," she continued. "Spends a lot of time with them. Her going off radar is not like her whatsoever. So, it's concerning... I think everyone's just kind of in a panic trying to find out where she is and get some kind of answers and hope that she's OK."
Campbell said Russell's brother had passed away a couple years ago, so not knowing where his sister is has been hard on their parents.
"They've had a pretty big tragedy in their life happen already, so seeing another one happen to them is heartbreaking," Campbell said.
"Let's bring her home," Bauer said. "That's the key thing."
