Missing Sioux Falls Woman

DreamDeaf

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I know this woman, and I am worried about her - I just hope she comes back home safe although the police does not feel confident about her safe return...
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Sioux Falls police search for missing woman
Her vehicle was found near Pizza Hut at 26th and Sycamore

Staff reports
February 4, 2006, 8:38 pm

Sioux Falls police are seeking information about a Sioux Falls woman who was reported missing after she did not report for work for two days.

Darlene Kay Vandergeisen, who is 5 foot, 5 inches tall, weighs between 200 and 250 pounds, and has short brown hair and hazel eyes.

She also is hearing impaired.

According to the police, Vandergeisen has not been seen since leaving work about 6 p.m. Wednesday. Her vehicle was found late Friday evening near the Pizza Hut at 26th Street and Sycamore Avenue.

Police said Vandergeisen also is connected to a 1989 Chevrolet Beretta, silver with two doors, with Iowa license plate 143-MYF.

Anyone with information should contact law enforcement.
 
Police seek information about missing woman
By Jill Callison
jcalliso@argusleader.com

February 5, 2006, 2:55 am

Sioux Falls police seek information about a Sioux Falls woman who was reported missing after not reporting to work for two days.

Darlene Kay Vandergeisen is 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighs 200 to 250 pounds, has short brown hair and hazel eyes. She also is hearing impaired.

According to police, Vandergeisen has not been seen since leaving work at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Her vehicle was found late Friday near Pizza Hut at 26th Street and Sycamore Avenue.

She also is connected to a 1989 Chevrolet Beretta, silver with two doors, displaying Iowa license plate 143-MYF.

Anyone with information should contact law enforcement.
 
Police still looking for missing woman
From staff reports

February 6, 2006, 12:56 pm

Police are still searching for a missing Sioux Falls woman who was last seen Wednesday.

“It’s a case that has us concerned,” Police Chief Doug Barthel said Monday.

Darlene Kay VanderGiesen is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, weighs 200 to 250 pounds, has short brown hair and hazel eyes. She also is hearing impaired.

Investigators have not found anything to suggest foul play, but they also cannot rule it out, Barthel said. Today is the third day she has not showed up for work.

According to police, VanderGiesen’s vehicle was found late Friday near the Pizza Hut at 26th Street and Sycamore Avenue.

Police are asking anyone who might have information to call the police detective division at 367-7256.
 
Police ask farmers to check their land for missing woman
By DAN HAUGEN
dhaugen@argusleader.com

February 7, 2006, 3:56 pm

Sioux Falls Police Chief Doug Barthel today asked farmers to check barns, outbuildings and other areas where a missing Sioux Falls woman or evidence might be hidden.

Authorities searching for Darlene Vander Giesen still hope for a safe return.

But the community also needs to prepare for the worst, Barthel said at a news conference this afternoon.

Vander Giesen, 42, was last seen Feb. 1. Her parents reported her missing on Friday.

Police are also asking anybody who was at Pizza Hut on 26th Street and Sycamore between 6 and 9 p.m. Feb. 1 to call.

Anyone with information is asked to call Sioux Falls Police at 367-7256.

For more on this story, see Wednesday's Argus Leader.
 
Few clues to aid search
Police ask farmers to look in barns, shelterbelts

DAN HAUGEN
dhaugen@argusleader.com

February 8, 2006, 2:55 am

After five days of fruitless searching for a missing Sioux Falls woman, police issued grim advice Tuesday for farmers to begin searching barns and shelterbelts.

"Anywhere somebody might be able to hide a person or any other kind of evidence," Police Chief Doug Barthel said at an afternoon press conference.

Darlene VanderGiesen, 42, who is deaf, was last seen leaving work a week ago today. Police found her truck in the parking lot of a Pizza Hut at 26th Street and Sycamore Avenue.

Barthel said he is optimistic investigators will find her alive and well, but he also warned about preparing for the worst-case scenario.

"It just seems like she dropped off the face of the earth, and nobody knows why," said Gene VanderGiesen, Darlene's father.

Co-workers and friends also expressed concern about the woman's uncharacteristic disappearance.

"There is a lot of talk. A lot of people are worried about her well-being right now," said Derric Miller, spokesman for Communication Services for the Deaf in Sioux Falls, where VanderGiesen regularly socializes.

VanderGiesen's employer, JDS Industries, called her parents Friday morning when she did not show up for work for the second day in a row.

Gene VanderGiesen, of Rock Valley, Iowa, said he and his wife, Dee, arrived in Sioux Falls on Friday afternoon and found their daughter's two cats begging for food and attention.

Along with the cats, they found her cell phone and duffel bag, leading them to think she didn't simply leave town without telling others. He said it also didn't appear she packed clothing.

The VanderGiesens notified police, who began searching and found the woman's car Friday evening. Police think VanderGiesen was at the Pizza Hut between 6 and 9 p.m. on Feb. 1.

The department issued a missing person alert Saturday morning and asked anybody who was at the restaurant that evening to call with information. Police spokesman Loren McManus said the volume of calls has "been fairly minimal."

Investigators briefly sought information about a man from Melvin, Iowa, but an alibi showed he was not with VanderGiesen around the time of her disappearance, her father said.

Detectives are interviewing VanderGiesen's friends, co-workers and neighbors and looking for clues in her apartment and truck. They asked her parents Tuesday to return the vehicle to Sioux Falls police for further inspection.

McManus said the investigation has been complicated because many of VanderGiesen's friends are also hearing-impaired. The department has used sign language translators for some of its interviews.

Barthel said a "tremendous" amount of resources have been placed into finding VanderGiesen. More than 20 officers attended a meeting Tuesday to discuss the latest leads.

"We haven't by any means reached a dead end," Barthel said.

The investigation isn't focused on any certain geographic area, which is why a canine or volunteer search isn't possible now.

Many missing person cases involve children who turn up within a day at friends' houses. Others come with circumstances that suggest the chance for foul play is remote. It's been several years since the city has had a suspicious disappearance like this one, Barthel said.

"It's not your ordinary missing person case," Barthel said. "Just because of the way she disappeared, it certainly has caused us concern."

VanderGiesen was raised in Rock Valley, Iowa, and moved to Sioux Falls in the early 1990s. She works in the warehouse at JDS Industries, packaging orders of trophy parts the company sells.

"She is well-thought-of and well-liked," Sletten said. "She was very outgoing, very friendly to everybody and always had a smile."

VanderGiesen has been a member of the South Dakota Association of the Deaf for 14 years. She also plays on a softball team for a Sioux Falls deaf association.

Gene and Dee VanderGiesen pleaded at a news conference Tuesday for anybody with information to call Sioux Falls police. The detectives division can be reached at 367-7256.

"Now it's starting to look like it's pretty grim," Gene VanderGiesen said. "Every hour goes by and you think, well, tonight or tomorrow, something's going to happen. The waiting weighs so terribly heavy on you."

Reach Dan Haugen at 331-2335.
 
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If you have seen this woman, please contact the Sioux Falls police department.

We want her back home safe and sound.
 
God Bless and Thank you for bringing the pictures of the Deaf woman because alots of Deaf people like to travel all the 50 states. I pray she turns up somewhere safe and nothing bad happened to her.


She also is connected to a 1989 Chevrolet Beretta, silver with two doors, displaying Iowa license plate 143-MYF.
 
That particular SUV is now at the police department. It was left at the Pizza Hut restaurant and the Sioux Falls police department asked her parents to bring it back from Iowa so they could process it for evidence.
 
Hi DreamDeaf,

I noticed something else that needs attention to help with speeding up the life saving information.

What is the area code for these phone numbers to call? In case a Deaf or a hard of hearing or even a hearing person of Deaf parents ( CODA ) and ASL interpreters notice or catch her being seen somewhere & make sure to keep her safe in one place and call these phone numbers with area code ready please? If it is really an emergency then dial 911.

What is the area code for....

Police are asking anyone who might have information to call the police detective division at 367-7256.

Anyone with information is asked to call Sioux Falls Police at 367-7256.

Reach Dan Haugen at 331-2335.

I will continue to keep her in my prayers and God Bless....
 
Awwww :( I'm sorry that she reported missing, I hope nothing bad happened to her, I hope she returns home safe and sound. I'll keep an eye out in case I see her. Thanks for posting the information DreamDeaf! ;)
 
DD, it would be a good idea to have this thread sticky until Darlene is found.
 
The Deaf world is not easy....

We try to keep things like this from happening.

I do not know her at all, but she is my Deaf sister

Just like a Deaf guy is my Deaf brother.

I get mad, angry when a Deaf brother dies during the course of an armed robbery stickup when the Deaf guy walked in the liquor store to buy something to drink and some idiot comes into the store not to buy some beer or liquor but came to rob & kill.

It is the same thing with a Deaf sister when something like this bad happens.

We always try to improve our security and safety awareness, crime prevention and self defense.

The Deaf world may be small but we all are a family when it comes to things like this. We watch each other's backs over these things.

I hope she will be safe and returned home alive and fine. God Bless and pray for that family.
 
I hope she will be found safely and in one piece. I'm sorry to hear that she was missing since. :(
 
02/06/2006

Still Looking For Missing Woman

No one's seen her since Wednesday. And Monday morning, Darlene VanderGiesen didn't show up for work for the third day now.

It's been five days since the 42-year-old deaf Sioux Falls woman was last seen leaving work at JDS Industries on W. 3rd St. at 6:00 p.m.

"Missing posters" featuring Darlene VanderGiesen hang on gas station bulletin boards. No one's seen her in almost a week, and that has police concerned.

"At this point, we're asking for some help from the public if anyone has seen her or knows anything about her," says Sioux Falls Police Chief Doug Barthel.

Particularly, the police could use help from anyone who ate at Pizza Hut on 26th and Sycamore last Wednesday evening. Her car was found in that parking lot.

"It was actually noticed by the employees there on that night, but we didn't receive information she was gone until Friday," Barthel says.

The fact that VanderGiesen is deaf might help identify her, especially if she did eat at Pizza Hut that night.

"They might have noticed somebody communicating with sign language or something of that sort on that evening," Barthel says.

Police found her car locked and nothing looked suspicious. As for how they found her apartment, "Everything was in order, but she left pets behind that were unattended, didn't make any contact with friends or relatives, which is very unlike her," Barthel says.

And police are hopeful they will find her well.

"We don't have anything to indicate there's foul play at this point," Barthel says. "On the other hand, we haven't ruled that out either."

VanderGiesen is 5'5", between 200 and 250 pounds and has short brown hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen wearing a black and gray flannel shirt, blue jeans and tennis shoes.

If you have any information, call the Sioux Falls police at (605) 367-7000.

http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail2817.cfm?Id=0,45803
 
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02/07/2006
Missing Investigation Led Police To Sioux Falls Residence

Not knowing where Darlene VanderGiesen is, is tough on her family and those in the deaf community, but police may have a break in the case. Undercover officers have been staking out a home on South Phillips Avenue.

They tell KELOLAND News their investigation into VanderGiesen's disappearance has led them to a residence. Police aren't saying much more than that, but they do want neighbors to know no one is in any kind of danger.

searching for a woman who can't hear, presents some unique challenges for police.

You can't hear the cries for help, but the deaf community, which is a tight knit group, is desperately asking for the public's help in finding Darlene VanderGiesen.

"This one of our siblings who is missing and we want to know what's happening and we all come together to act," said Tom Kober, President of the South Dakota Association of the Deaf.

Tom Kober says he first learned about VanderGiesen's disappearnce by watching television. Kober says everyone in the deaf community is hurting right now.

"If anything that happens within the community, immediately the deaf community knows and are very supportive of each other."

But finding VanderGiesen isn't like finding just another missing person. There's a communication barrier that sometime slows the process, especially if there's no interpretor available when interviewing those who can't hear.

"There always has to be a facilitator present, it's required."

The South Dakota Association of the Deaf is helping police as much as possible, but because this case is a first of its kind in Sioux Falls, Kober says a break down in communication can mean a break down in the investigation.

"Critical delays prolong finding a person and that's our biggest challenge."

Police have few leads at this point, but her family says they know Darlene didn't leave on her own free will, because she left her pager behind and her two cats at home without food. If you have any information call 911.

http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail5440.cfm?Id=0,45846
 
02/08/2006
Missing Woman Update (2 hrs ago)

Sioux Falls police may have a lead in the case of missing 42-year-old Darlene VanderGiesen.

Tuesday, Sioux Falls police staked out a home on South Phillips Avenue. Their investigation into VanderGiesen's disappearance led them to the residence.

Police aren't saying much more than that, but they do want neighbors to know no one is in any kind of danger.

Authorities are asking farmers and landowners to check their fields, and areas of water for any signs of VanderGiesen.

http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail5440.cfm?Id=0,45860
 
I do really hope something credible will show up leading to the whereabouts of this missing woman very very soon.

I'm sure her friends, neighbors already have been contacted which pretty much says why there isn't any viable leads to her whereabouts....SOMETHING has to give and I'm confident and hopeful that something is bound to show up soon leading to where she is....she'll be in my thoughts and prayers, her family, friends (like DD)....

One interesting thing that might be worth looking into, is the fact at the sight of where she worked, there was no evidence of foul-play, which can suggest that she was enticed or befriended by someone she already knew or barely knew...simply meaning, no onsite evidence of a struggle, etc.,....

For the time being, making this thread 'sticky'--

~Keep us posted DD~
 
Is that good news or bad news about they might have leads on the missing woman?
 
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