But this day was anything but ordinary, there was a woman missing. Mattie Shoaf, 70 years old, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in June, had gone missing from Temple Mall on Wednesday night. Temple police were into their 20th hour of the search. The chill promised for the evening was starting to creep into the afternoon air.
There was no sign that life as it was was going to be any different tomorrow.
At 3:50 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, a family’s life was going to be turned upside down.
Police got a call on Wednesday evening that a lady was missing. She was at the mall shopping with her daughter and grandson; her other daughter was working in Macy’s.
“Just before 8 p.m. the call was received that a woman had wandered off from her family,” Sgt. Brad Hunt of the Temple Police Depart-ment said. “Security at Temple Mall and the family had searched the mall at that stage. The call was made by a security officer.”
A command center was immediately set up in the food hall of the mall.
Hunt was one of the first to arrive on the scene. Not long after 8 p.m., according to the police event chronology, 17 officers were searching the mall and surrounding areas, one patrol car was sent to Mattie’s home, another drove the path from the mall to her home, the carpark at Lowe’s was searched, as was Wal-Mart. “By the time we finished searching the mall no bathroom or change room had not been searched. Staff from the mall stores assisted us,” Hunt said.
Mattie’s home was searched by police officers and then they remained outside the premises in patrol cars, just in case someone was to take her home.
Lt. Doug Suhr took over the investigation when he arrived at the mall.
At 9:26 the first air rescuer went into the sky. Air One was piloted by a Harker Heights officer, who had
already completed a full day’s work. There was no stopping the search for this woman in the chill of the night. Officers in the air did not even have time to prepare themselves dresswise for the cold of the night – not a minute was wasted getting the helicopter into the air. The next time they would be on the ground was to refuel.
At 9:05 p.m. an e-mail went out to the media in hopes it would make the 10 p.m. news. A photograph was obtained and at 10 p.m. Sgt. Hunt was able to headline the news in Central Texas, making everyone aware of the disappearance.
“Until the news aired we had no leads, not a thing,” Hunt said. After the news, calls started to come in. “That was where we heard she had been seen walking past Lowe’s on the loop and by the bowling alley,” Hunt said. “And that was when we completely changed the search area and concentrated on the bushland behind Lowe’s and down the loop. An officer went into Bum’s Bar with a picture, and she was recognized. We knew she had been there.”
After 10 p.m. the command post was moved to the main entrance of the mall, family was notified and started to gather at the central command area.
Throughout the night family gathered as they heard word that Mattie was missing.
Mattie’s family were acting strong. Inside they were slowly being ripped apart. Their mother was missing. They searched in cars, yelling out her name, always returning to the command post to see if anything new had been received.
Terri Shoaf Fleming, her eldest daughter, works at Macy’s. Her colleagues started arriving after 11 p.m. to assist in the search.
Phyllis Reed, the youngest daughter, an employee of TriSun Healthcare, had colleagues searching on Thursday as they carried out their jobs.
Terri and her husband, Archie Fleming, were living with Mattie. “We moved in after her mother died,” Shoaf Fleming said, “because she was living alone then.”
Her daughters ensured she was never alone. Archie, John ‘Trey’ or one of her two daughters were with her at all times.
“Everyone thinks they had the best parents, but we really did. We had the best parents in the world,” Reed said.
“She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in June,” Phyllis said.
In the early hours of the morning, Gatesville’s Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Hughes Unit tracking canines answered the call to assist in the search.
There was a good feeling when word came through that the dogs had picked up the scent of Mattie. “We had a place to go,” Shoaf Fleming said, “We went down there to search ourselves.”
Family members had to stand and watch as the Central Texas Air Unit used its 35 million candle-power spotlight to search the grasslands.
By 7 a.m. the command post had once again moved to the Lowe’s carpark, allowing plenty of room for every available resource.
“The City of Temple owns a couple of ATV’s. We had five or six working in the fields,” Teston said. “Officers that privately owned ATVs brought theirs in to help locate Mrs. Shoaf,” he said.
Things began to look out of the ordinary. Helicopters landed and left from the two helipads set up in the parking lot of Lowe’s, orange traffic cones surrounded the Temple Police Mobile Unit, ATVs came for updates and to be told of their next mission. Large groups of police gathered for briefings. A Texas Ranger wandered in and out of the command post. Gary O. Smith, Cchief of police was there. Sniffing dogs came and went. The Fire Department’s truck was there. Volunteers from Bell County Civilian Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T) came to rest before venturing out again. Mobile news studio crews were set up with their 40-foot-plus antennas, broadcasting live news updates.
“In 12 and a half years at Temple, I have never seen a search to this magnitude,” Hunt said. “We have missing Alzheimer’s patients, but the call is usually from a person that has found them,” he said.
This wasn’t the case of a lady in the later stages of Alzheimer’s that was trying to cope in society with an insidious disease. This was Mattie Shoaf, adored by her family. This was a lady that could call her grandson John at any time of the day or night and know he would drop everything to be with her. This was a family that was coming to terms with a disease that was new to them.
On Wednesday night there was still a future. Mattie was quite capable of looking after herself. She still dressed herself, she prepared her meals. She had family with her at all times, not because she required the constant care, but because she was dearly loved by her two daughters and their families. There was no reason at this stage to move her to a facility. On Wednesday night the plan was to have a hamburger after errands had been done at the mall.
At one stage in the search the family asked “what else can be done?” As frustrating as it was, the answer was “nothing.” Everything you could possibly think of was being done.
“The Texas DPS Air Unit with the infrared camera is so sensitive it had me searching manholes that were covered with 4 inches of dirt,” Hunt said. “That is how sensitive it is, the slightest heat source activates it.”
“Mattie and her daughters helped care for her own mother who died over two years ago, in her early 90s,” said Sonjanette Crossley, a cousin to Mattie. “Mattie was a homebody, she enjoyed being at home.
“As a threesome of women they enjoyed each other’s company. Those girls would just take turns taking care of her, working around the awkwardness of schedules,” Crossley said.
Mattie’s family will be forever grateful to the people who helped in the search. “The police were just wonderful, they kept us informed all day and they never stopped, none of the volunteers did,” Reed said.
As the family was told the tragic news, officers returned to the command station, shoulders slumped. This wasn’t the outcome they wanted.
