Still no trace of
missing woman
DAWN BEACH--The search is still ongoing for US citizen Leta Lynn Cordes, who went missing on Friday, January 11, the police reported on Wednesday.
Cordes, who was vacationing here with her husband Frank, was last seen by him on Friday, January 11, around 11:00pm when she left their home on foot to go to the nearby Westin Casino. She has not returned home or contacted anyone since then.
A search to locate the 49-year-old woman started when her husband filed a report with the police on Saturday, January 12, that his wife was missing, but up to now has had no positive results.
Police spokesman Inspector Ricardo Henson said Wednesday that a search had been carried out by the police K-9 unit on Tuesday afternoon. He said the search would continue.
The Police Department is asking anyone who may have any information that could help locate Leta Cordes to call the station.
Leta Cordes is from Mission Viejo, California, and has been visiting the island for more than 20 years. Her husband is of German nationality. Together they own a house in Dawn Beach, which they built last year.
On Friday, after dinner in a Grand Case restaurant, Leta Cordes decided to go to Westin Casino, where she was a regular guest, said her best friend Cary Honstein during a telephone interview with The Daily Herald.
“We suspect that something bad happened to her. I have known her for 22 years. Leta is not the person to disappear for a few days and come back again,” Honstein said. “She may look like a fun and voluptuous person, but she’s not the type to be picked up by a guy and come back a few days later.”
Police reported Cordes as known to be a compulsive drinker and a heavy gambler.
Honstein confirmed that Cordes had been drinking that night and that she was a regular guest at the casino, which is a short distance from her vacation home.
“She comes there quite often. That night, her husband Frank had given her US $100 to go to the casino. We told her not to go, but she was very persistent. She went there on foot. Frank went after her a little later to see if she was safe, but he did not find her on the road, so he expected her to be in the casino already.”
The casino closes at 4:00am, and when Leta Cordes had not come home by 7:00am her family suspected something was wrong.
“Of course we enquired whether somebody had seen her at the Westin, but up till now nobody has come forward to confirm that she was in the casino that night,” Honstein said.
Cordes’ son Rory Bryant (29) flew in from the US on Tuesday to assist in the search for his missing mother. The police have advised Frank Cordes not to speak to the media.
