Police to Search for Missing Woman

San Fernando police will search today for evidence in the disappearance of a woman three weeks ago.

Starting at 9 a.m., San Fernando officers, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and volunteers will search the foothills above San Fernando at El Cariso Regional Park in Sylmar, said San Fernando Police Lt. Dan Peavy.

“That is an area most likely to have some evidence related to her disappearance,” Peavy said. “There may be some evidence people have not found yet.”

Peavy said police are taking the search to rural areas because of lack of information about the missing woman, Dora Marie Silva. This was also the first time San Fernando police were able to organize a volunteer search since recovering Silva’s van May 14, he said.

“If she was in areas where people are, someone would’ve called us,” Peavy said. “We’re just trying to explore all the possibilities.”

Silva, 32, a married mother of four children ages 4 to 15, was last seen leaving her San Fernando home late in the evening of May 8.

Silva’s van was found in Mission Hills, two miles from her home. The dark blue and gray Chevrolet Astro was found on Marklein Avenue, near San Fernando Mission Boulevard and the San Diego Freeway. A woman recognized the van from a newspaper story, police said.

Silva is described as Latina, 5 feet 3, 120 pounds, with medium-length brown hair, brown eyes and a mole on her left cheek.

Anyone with information is asked to call San Fernando police at (818) 898-1286 or (818) 898-1267.