THOUSAND OAKS : Search to Resume for Missing Woman

A Thousand Oaks family’s search for a daughter who disappeared three months ago was scheduled to resume this morning in Malibu Creek State Park, the last place the woman was reported seen.

The search for Nancy Huter, 36, will be concentrated along Las Virgenes Creek, where a muddy pair of her boots were found shortly after her March 3 disappearance, said Bob Huter, the missing woman’s father.

Today’s search was prompted when a couple who belong to Black Paws, an international search group, offered the use of a Newfoundland dog trained to search for humans, Huter said.

Teams of divers searched the creek in March when Huter’s car was discovered at the park, and a ranger reported seeing a woman resembling Huter walking on nearby Mulholland Drive.

But rainstorms had turned the usually gentle stream into a rushing torrent at the time, and divers said a body could have been trapped underwater by debris and overlooked.

Several weeks ago, Bob Huter returned to the creek with a search party of 18 volunteers, but he did not discover any new clues. Water in the creek had receded to normal levels, leaving behind plenty of evidence of the flood’s strength, he said.

“Standing in the creek bed, we could see debris that had been trapped 10 feet up in the trees,” he said. “We found a park bench half-buried in the mud.”