Searches yield no new evidence

With no indications of a crime, the case of a 24-year-old Hudson mother remains that of a "missing person."

By MOLLY MOORHEAD, Times Staff Writer
Published November 20, 2007

Pasco County Sheriff dive team members searching for Stefanie Francique, 24, examine a lake on Monday for evidence near the entrance to Colony Lakes Estates, near State Road 52 in Hudson. The young woman has been missing for two weeks.
	[Stephen J. Coddington | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Stephen J. Coddington | Times] Ardell and Janet Mears, the father and stepmother of Francique, speak to reporters as divers from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office search the lake. Stefanie Francique was last seen by her family on Nov. 5. [Handout]

HUDSON - News helicopters buzzed overhead, neighbors watched curiously and sheriff's investigators donned diving gear as the search for a missing 24-year-old mother hinted at a promising break.

But at the end of the day Monday, Stefanie Francique was still missing and authorities had no new evidence.

"It really is a mystery as far as what happened to her," sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin said.

Francique, who lives with her parents in Colony Lakes Estates, told her stepmother good night about 11 p.m. Nov. 5 but was gone when Janet Mears awoke the next day. Francique left behind her car, wallet and 4-year-old daughter,Allyana.

Her family, convinced she didn't disappear willingly, organized a search for her Saturday. Some 90 people fanned out in the neighborhood off State Road 52. Searchers found a pack of cigarettes like the ones Francique smokes and fresh tire tracks leading to a swampy pond near the entrance to the subdivision.

A dive team used sonar and other equipment Monday to comb the half-mile-long waterway for any sign that she had been there.

They found nothing.

Lacking any evidence of a crime, the Sheriff's Office is still calling the case that of a "missing person."

Janet and Ardell Mears, Stefanie's father, came to the scene Monday. They wanted to thank all of the people who searched Saturday and the businesses that donated items such as pizza and cold drinks.

But if Francique is watching all this fuss from some unknown place, they worry that she might hesitate to re-emerge.

"I want her to know that she's welcome back home and we love her," Janet Mears said.

Alyanna is now living in Brandon with her father, Darryl Francique, who is estranged from Stefanie. The Mearses said they visited with the little girl Friday.

"We're trying our best to keep positive and upbeat when we're around her," said Ardell Mears, 60. "When it gets too much, I have to walk away. It just tears me apart."

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Sheriff's Office, toll-free 1-800-854-2862, ext. 7462.

Molly Moorhead can be reached at moorhead@sptimes.com or 727 869-6245.

[Last modified November 19, 2007, 22:43:07]