AUBURNDALE, Fla. (WFLA) – Tonya Whipp’s loved ones are still desperate for answers more than three months after the 38-year-old Auburndale woman vanished.
Her family is working closely with former law enforcement offices from Tampa Bay who specialize in finding missing people.
“We Are The Essentials” organized a search Sunday afternoon in an orange grove near the cell tower where they say Tonya’s phone pinged before she disappeared.
“This is an area that we just wanted to thoroughly saturate and to say that we can 100 percent say we cleared it,” said Amanda Reece, a founding member of “We Are The Essentials.”
Robin Klotzbier drove in from Sebring to help search for her missing sister. She last spoke with Tonya in late May.
“It’s hard because we want to know where she is and not knowing is the worst part,” Klotzbier said.
Organizers of the search said Tonya was last wearing an olive green spaghetti strap shirt and khaki shorts before her disappearance.
More than 30 volunteers went through every row of the orange grove looking for articles of clothing, Tonya’s cell phone and her necklace.
“She always wore a silver chain that had an anchor on it that her mother had given to her that was very precious to her,” Reece said.
The search on Sunday fell on the anniversary of when Tonya’s mother passed away.
“I ask my mom this morning to give me a sign,” Klotzbier said. “Today, she’s been gone 8 years so she’s looking down, she’s helping us.”
These volunteer searches for Tonya Whipp are in addition to the Auburndale Police Department’s investigation.
Near the end of July, News Channel 8 was there when police executed a search warrant in connection to this missing person case.
Police said any evidence they found during that search was sent to the FDLE crime lab.
“What (police) can tell us, they try to tell us,” Klotzbier said, “but for the most part they’re keeping it close to them.”
While it becomes more difficult for Tonya’s loved ones to hold on to hope with each passing day, the former law enforcement officers from “We Are The Essentials” are not giving up.
“We are committed to bringing Tonya home,” Reece said. “As long as it takes, we will bring Tonya home.”
Anyone with information about the Tonya Whipp missing person case should contact “We Are The Essentials” or Auburndale Police by calling (863)965-5555.
Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-266-TIPS (8477).