Search for Upstate missing hiker temporarily suspended: Officials
PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) — More than two weeks ago, a woman was camping with a family member at Table Rock State Park when she was reported missing.
Now, law enforcement has suspended the search.
On Tuesday, hikers like Dylan Moore expressed concern for what may have happened to Womacks.
'You kind of wonder what happened to her, what caused her to go missing out here,' Moore said.
Pickens County officials said 52-year-old Stephanie Womacks was reported missing on March 3. She was last seen wearing a brown hoodie, jeans and black sneakers.
Billy Gibson, the county's emergency management director, said it has been an all-hands-on deck to find Womacks.
'We had air support from a SLED helicopter, we used our drones, we use several K9s out in the field,' explained Gibson. 'At our lowest point we were about 30 people doing ground search, at our highest, we are at about 100. So, the area has been covered very well.'
Gibson said that with the park being full of spring breakers, search efforts would be counterproductive. He said deputies plan on getting back out as quickly as possible, before the summer foliage makes it even harder to search the difficult terrain.
'We've had a lot of folks working on this,' he said. 'A lot of resources have been used and some of those folks are very good at what they do and for us, not finding a resolution at this point, it has been kind of frustrating for our folks as well.'
No foul play is suspected in connection to Womacks disappearance, officials said.
'It has been a bit of a mystery on what could've happened, but we are going to continue our search down the road,' Gibson said. 'It may not be an everyday occurrence, but we will continue to try to look for Mrs. Womacks and try to find some closure for the family.'
Anyone with information about Womacks is asked to contact the Pickens County Sheriff's Office at (864) 989-5500.
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