A Gilroy family is searching for their mother, wife and relative
after she went missing on her way to the San Jose Airport.
A Gilroy family is searching for their mother, wife and relative after she went missing on her way to the San Jose Airport.
Donna House, 44, said goodbye to her husband, told him she loved him, and set off to the airport at 5 a.m. Monday, said Amanda Wilborn, House’s relative by marriage. House said she would call her husband when she got to the airport, but she never did – making her husband suspicious.
“Their history over the last 30 years has been her following up,” Wilborn said.
Donna House has never gone missing before, said Marilyn House, the missing woman’s mother-in-law. Donna House takes nearly two dozen pills a day to prevent seizures and keep her blood pressure low, but her medication never caused disorientation in the past and she had no vision problems, Marilyn House said.
“I feel like somebody had to have grabbed her,” Marilyn House said.
Donna House’s husband, Jim House, went to bed Monday night in their Devon Place home but started awake about 11 p.m. “with a real weird feeling,” Marilyn House said. He drove up to San Jose and scoured the parking lot his wife usually parks in but found no sign of her car.
In fact, airport records show that Donna House’s car – a silver 2008 Honda Accord with license plate no. 6EWZ345 – never entered the airport and that she never boarded the plane, Wilborn said. Her bank and credit cards also show no activity since before she set off. She was supposed to fly to San Diego for a business trip, then return Tuesday night.
Donna House is white with brown hair and hazel eyes. She stands 5-feet-tall and weighs 125 pounds.
On Tuesday, police tried to track Donna House’s cell phone by pinging the global positioning device in the phone, Wilborn said. Most modern smart phones with GPS can respond to this emergency request even if they are off, provided they still have battery life. However, Donna House’s phone – which had been charged prior to her departure – did not respond. Marilyn House called her daughter-in-law several times Tuesday but her phone went immediately to voice mail.
In addition, a family friend has access to a helicopter and has been scouring Monterey Road and U.S. 101, but has not found Donna House’s vehicle, Wilborn said. The family also hung fliers with a photo of the missing woman around south Gilroy.
“I can’t imagine what would have happened,” Marilyn House said, adding that her son has been driving around aimlessly searching for his wife.
Donna House – a regional remodeling specialist for Target – flies regularly for business, Marilyn House said. She is the mother of a grown daughter and a preteen, Wilborn said. She and her husband were high school sweethearts, have been happily married for about 30 years and recently welcomed their second grandchild into the world. The couple also owns a coffee shop, Caffe Florian, in Los Gatos.
“She’s the absolute rock of our family,” Marilyn House said. “She’s a wonderful mother and wife.”
Even after spending four days in bed with the flu, Donna House hosted a “wonderful” Thanksgiving dinner at her home, Marilyn House said.
“You can’t stop her at all,” she said. “We call her the Energizer Bunny.”
Wilborn said Donna House did not have a history with mental illness. She also did not have any enemies or business disputes, Wilborn said.
Parties with information may call the Gilroy Police Department at 846-0350 or Christine House at 677-7671.
