Sheila Ann Lopes, 71, disappeared from her Escondido home in the gated Emerald Heights community on August 27, 2008. Living with Alzheimer’s disease but described as mostly lucid, she was last seen by family around midnight that night. The following morning a neighbor reported Sheila wandering into a house that had once belonged to her son; the new occupants asked her to leave and she was not seen again.

At the time she vanished Sheila was wearing a teal-green sweatsuit, white deck shoes, and several pieces of jewelry including gold bracelets, a black pearl ring, and a diamond wedding band. Family members said she had wandered off before but never for such a long time. Searches by volunteers and law enforcement in the neighborhood and surrounding areas turned up no trace, and there was no indication she used a vehicle.

Anyone who lived in Emerald Heights or nearby in late August 2008 and remembers seeing Sheila or noticed someone matching her description is asked to come forward with information.