Search For Missing Bay Area Hiker Enters Day 16, Ramps Back Up: Police

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — After scaling back the search for a missing hiker on May 7, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office announced it will increase efforts Saturday and Sunday to look for a 79-year-old woman who hasn’t been seen in more than two weeks, police said.

Margaret “Elaine” McKinley, 79, of Redwood City was last seen hiking in the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve in Portola Valley, police said. She was wearing a red jacket and black pants.

On Saturday and Sunday, around 100 specially trained search and rescue volunteers will canvas the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve and the surrounding areas, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.

Police said this weekend's efforts will be focused on intensively searching again the area McKinley was reported missing from, police said. The search will use drones, horses and several specialized K-9 teams including the sheriff’s department’s new tracking bloodhound.

McKinley, who has dementia, was last seen on May 1 hiking the Lost Trail in the Windy Hill Preserve with her family, police said. At around 2 p.m. on May 1, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District requested assistance in search and rescue from the SMC Sheriff's Office.

Throughout the evening of May 1 and into the early morning of May 2, More than 40 specialized search and rescue personnel scoured the area, police said. On May 2, an additional 70 search rescue personnel came to assist the search.

A silver alert was issued by the California Highway Patrol, which is activated when an elderly, developmentally or cognitively-impaired person has gone missing and is determined to be at-risk.

Over 500 search and rescue volunteers have scoured over 3,000 miles since she went missing. On May 6, over 80 search and rescue personnel from Marin, Merced, Placer, Santa Clara, Shasta, Yolo and Nevada counties assisted San Mateo County.

There have been no reported sightings, police said.

“I am proud of the enormous collaborative efforts by Sheriff's Office personnel and volunteers, along with specialized search and rescue personnel from around the state to search for Elaine,” said Sheriff Christina Corpus.

The sheriff’s office has reviewed more than 25 trail cameras and, after putting out a request to the public, dozens of community members' doorbell cameras.
Anyone with sightings or information is asked to call 9-1-1.