Search for missing New Madrid woman continues

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- The search for a missing woman continues as law enforcement officers rule out the most recent lead in the 18-month-old case.

A car spotted in the depths of the Mississippi River last fall is not Barbara Stoffer's, said New Madrid Police Chief Joey Higgerson.

Shortly before her disappearance, Stoffer, 83, was driving a green four-door 1997 Volvo 850 with Missouri license plate number 073RYW on Aug. 20, 2013, in the Parma area of New Madrid County.

Higgerson said his department, working with the Missouri State Highway Patrol's dive team, twice scanned the site in recent days where fishermen spotted a vehicle at Marsh Landing on the Mississippi River near Portageville, Missouri.

What the officers found, he said, was not just one vehicle, but three.

On Jan. 20, divers hooked marker buoys to each vehicle in preparation to retrieve them.

The next day, working with Satterfield Wrecker Service, divers returned to the water.

Higgerson said they began with the vehicle nearest the boat ramp.

"They felt around and determined it was very rusty and old," Higgerson said, adding divers described the vehicle as a small SUV. "We decided it wasn't worth pulling out if we had ruled out it wasn't Barbara Stoffer's car."

As divers searched the second vehicle, they also determined this one was rusty and would break into pieces if pulled from the river, the police chief said.

Based on the age, Higgerson said, he is confident this also was not Stoffer's vehicle.

As it was becoming dark, divers began to search the third car, which Higgerson said was farther upstream and apparently was driven off the bank into the river.

While the vehicle also was reported as rusty, Higgerson said an attempt was made to bring the vehicle up; however, as the cables pulled the vehicle toward the bank, the car broke into pieces.

"We retrieved a piece about 4 or 5 feet long that was very brittle and rusty," Higgerson said.

He said when a car was found in the Mississippi and retrieved last year during his department's search for Stoffer, it was a vehicle that had been missing since 2001 and had little rust.

Because of the extensive rust on the three vehicles, they were assumed to be submerged even longer.

While those vehicles were ruled out as being Stoffer's car, Higgerson emphasized his department is continuing its search for the missing woman.

A $50,000 reward is offered for information leading to Stoffer's recovery or the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for her disappearance.

"Right now we are going to sit down, regroup and come up with a new game plan," said Higgerson.

"We will keep pressing forward."

Anyone with information involving the case is asked to contact the New Madrid Police Department at 573-748-5901 or the New Madrid County Sheriff's Department at 573-748-2516.