AUBURNDALE, Fla. (WFLA) — While detectives work through the weekend to uncover new leads in the search for a missing Auburndale woman, a group of volunteers will be conducting their own search.
The group, “We Are The Essentials” is a “force multiplier,” according to Auburndale Police Chief Terry Storie.
“Those folks have been great for us. It allows us to concentrate on the things we need to do to get other information while they’re out searching and turning over stones,” Chief Storie said.
Detectives investigating her disappearance are filing subpoenas and search warrants to access records while Nico Tusconi and his group conduct searches and cultivate sources.
“They have access to things that law enforcement sometimes doesn’t have. For example, there was a witness that we were trying to get ahold of and he wouldn’t talk to us because he had open warrants but Nico was able to talk to him and relay that information,” said Chief Storie.
Whipp, 38, was last seen in late May. Police say her boyfriend told detectives she was not at their Caroline Avenue home when he got back from work.
“I’m still very concerned. She just seemed to have disappeared,” said Chief Storie. “There is no sign of a crime at this point. We’re still working it as a missing person’s case, hoping for the best but we are prepared for bad news as well.”
“There is a Visa card, social security card,” Tusconi said while combing through some of Whipp’s personal belongings at a picnic table on Lake Blue Friday.
Tusconi said Whipp’s boyfriend provided the items to Whipp’s family.
“I’m looking for any kind of information that may show us who she was in communication with, who she may have reached out to if she had gotten in trouble somehow,” said Tusconi.
Tusconi, a retired Marine with a background in law enforcement, co-founded “We Are The Essentials” a year and a half ago with a goal of finding missing people,
He says he does the time-consuming and emotional work to feel a sense of purpose and give back to the community.
“The funding comes out of our own pocket. Every now and then we get donations. We are a non-profit,” he said.
A more than 100-person volunteer search last Sunday did not bring forward any new leads. Another search is planned for this Sunday.
Tusconi said he will be targeting a certain wooded area and revisiting locations that were searched last week as well.
“Any kind of clues to whether Tonya was in that area at one time or if she may be in that area still,” said Tusconi.
The volunteers are meeting at 8:30 a.m. Sunday at 111 West Bridgers Avenue, which is across from the Auburndale Police Department.
