From
http://www.starbanner.com/article/20...3003/1340/NEWSOct. 13, 2007
Next Sunday, at 6:30 p.m., there will be a candlelight vigil at the downtown square for a missing 39-year-old woman
The day would mark the six-month disappearance of Christine Wiles who was last seen alive on April 21.
In early August, Marion County sheriff's deputies, with assistance from its volunteer Emergency Response Team, and the U.S. Forest Service searched an area north of State Road 40 and south to Forest Road 597. They also checked the shooting range near Forest Road 88 and a lake by the southeast corner of SR 40 and State Road 19.
Wiles is white, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 160 pounds with auburn hair and blue eyes.
Anyone with any information about the case can call Sheriff's detective Rhonda Stroup at 732-9111, or Crime Stoppers at 368-STOP. A $5,000 reward is being offered.
From
http://www.starbanner.com/article/20...57/1001/News01Aug. 4, 2007
Marion County sheriff's deputies today are expected to search a portion of the Ocala National Forest in the hopes of finding a missing 39-year-old woman who was last seen on April 21. But the news, so far, is not good. They have found her car, with blood in the trunk.
Authorities found Christine Wiles' car on July 24 in Marion County, but they are not saying where the 1995 Chrysler New Yorker was located.
A sheriff's press release simply said it "may have been seen in the area of the Ocala National Forest."
Maj. Chris Blair, bureau chief of the department's Major Crimes Unit, said Friday the amount of blood discovered was enough to do an analysis.
"We believe foul play is involved and we want to find this girl. We believe she's in the area of the Ocala National Forest and we're going to search tomorrow with K-9, air unit - whatever it takes to find her."
and
Wiles left her home in Ocala on April 9 for Texas, where she planned to visit a girlfriend and seek employment. Wiles did get a job as a waitress at Denny's Restaurant in Texas. Authorities said Wiles' parents didn't know their daughter had gone to Texas.
Wiles returned to Ocala on April 20 and saw her family the next day. She didn't say anything about being in Texas, sheriff's officials said. That was the last time her family saw her.
Approximately six weeks went by, and her parents were worried. It wasn't like her not to stay in touch, especially when so many events went by, including her daughter's 16th birthday party. Then, on June 9, after finding out from friends that his daughter may have been in Texas with her boyfriend, Wiles' father, Timothy Lane Blackburn, contacted the Sheriff's Office. The department told him to contact Texas authorities.
Texas officials listed Wiles as missing/endangered out of Nederland [TX].
Blackburn met the boyfriend only once and does not know his name, so even that meeting would seem to be of little help to authorities.
"It would be wonderful if they did [find her alive], but we don't think it's going to happen," he said. "At this point, we just want to find her and get the person who did this to her."
Blackburn plans to be at the site today.
Blackburn said he suspected something was wrong when his daughter didn't call him for Father's Day or her mother for Mother's Day.
Officials said they are putting together a timeline of her whereabouts, in addition to talking with friends, families and associates. Now, the last sighting was in Belleview on April 21.
Anyone with any information about this case, can call the Detective Rhonda Stroup at 732-9111, or Crime Stoppers at 368-STOP. A $5,000 reward is being offered. She is described as white, 5-foot-6, 160 pounds with auburn hair and blue eyes.
Christine's missing poster with her photo is here:
http://www.marionso.com/mediarelease.php?id=07090