Family members of a woman who vanished from her sister’s Gilroy home are puzzled over how she left with no trace. And if she’s dead, they wonder how her body couldn’t be found, according to sister Myrna Flores.
The family of Noemi “Mimi” Coolbaugh hired a private investigator, who will search Santa Clara County for her. The investigator will also reach out to media in southern California, where the family has roots. The private search efforts come following efforts by the Gilroy Police Department to find her.
“[Past private investigators] have been giving us some tips but nothing credible,” Flores said. “We’re just baffled: How can she have vanished?”
Coolbaugh hinted at suicide prior to her disappearance on the 700 block of Sixth Street June 22, several family members said. Police said Coolbaugh left the home with no purse or cell phone.
Professional trackers told the family that if Coolbaugh was going to commit suicide, “it wouldn’t have taken that long” to find the body, Flores said.
She also said she hopes to continue working with volunteers associated with the search for missing Sierra LaMar until Coolbaugh is found.
“We don’t know what else to do,” Flores said.
Searchers have scoured the area to just outside the city limits and will now focus efforts countywide, according to Flores.
Coolbaugh is described as 5’ 5” tall, roughly 130 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She is possibly wearing glasses. She was last seen wearing a tan baseball cap, sunglasses, a dark blue zippered jacket, tan Capri-style pants and light blue tennis shoes.
