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Missing woman left her purse, keys
By CARRIE JOHNSON
© St. Petersburg Times, INVERNESS -- Linda Marie Howes, the 19-year-old Inverness woman missing since early Saturday morning, left behind her keys, purse and wallet when she vanished. Members of her family said Wednesday they're growing increasingly worried the former Citrus High School student is the victim of foul play. "It's not like her to go anywhere without her purse," said sister Jennifer Howes, 17. Linda Howes was last seen about 4 a.m. Saturday near E Joyce Lane, which runs behind her home on Iona Lane. The man who saw her last said she told him she would cut through a wooded path to her home. Her mother finds this story highly suspicious. "She is definitely not the type of person who would go through the woods, especially in the middle of the night," said Kathleen Howes. Investigators from the Citrus County Sheriff's Office continued their search for Howes on Wednesday by interviewing the people who saw her last at a party, said spokeswoman Ronda Hemminger Evan. On Tuesday night, a Sheriff's Office helicopter circled the woods behind the Howes' house. Nothing was found, Evan said. "But at this point, it's too early to jump to any conclusions," she warned. Howes attended Citrus High School, but later dropped out and earned her GED. She was supporting herself by waiting tables at J.A. Garfield's. She attended a party Friday night, then visited a friend's house in the Highlands area of Inverness. According to people at the party, Howes accompanied a friend who was driving someone home between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m. The driver told deputies Howes asked to be taken home, rather than back to the party where her 1987 Bronco II was parked. Her purse, containing her wallet and keys, was also at the Highlands residence, family members said. Kathleen Howes said it's unlikely her daughter would run away. At 19, she was already free to leave. Also, Linda Howes had tried living on her own about five months ago. She didn't like it and moved back home, her mother said. Kathleen Howes said she doubts her daughter is with relatives: Her uncle lives in Inverness and said he hadn't seen her, and she hasn't had contact with her father, who lives in Eustis, in more than seven years. On Wednesday afternoon, friends were making posters with Linda's picture to hang around Inverness. They've talked to everyone who would have had contact with Linda the night of her disappearance. Now they're just waiting for the phone to ring. "I've been very worried," said Kathleen Howes. "I'm at the point that if I found out she was drunk somewhere, I would be relieved."
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