Police on Thursday released new details about a missing Riverside woman believed to be in “extreme emotional stress” after going missing in early March and later being spotted in North Carolina.
Before leaving home, 55-year-old Lisa Ann Vais converted $20,000 in cash into silver coins, Riverside police said in a statement.
Vais was reported missing by her husband on March 14, police said, but she had been gone for several days before that.
Authorities say Vais has surfaced on occasion, such as on March 11, when she visited a North Carolina hospital. On March 13, she was seen on video surveillance buying $3,100 in nonperishable food at a grocery store in that state.
On March 15, a Georgia resident told police they spotted Vais walking in a road in Gainsville, police said.
Before leaving Riverside, Vais said she was headed to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where her son lives. But she never arrived.
“There is no doubt that Ms. Vais is in need of some assistance,” Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said in a statement. “Her family describes that she is in extreme emotional distress, and it is imperative that we find her as soon as possible.”
She was driving a gray 2015 Mazda CX5 with an Illinois license plate number 1742048.
Anyone with information is asked to call 9-1-1 or Riverside police at 708-447-9191.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire & Chicago Sun-Times 2021. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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