Authorities renew search for missing Peabody woman

PEABODY – Peabody police are renewing the search for Alice Nunes, the 58-year-old Lowell Street woman who has not been seen or heard from since Dec. 15.Police released a new photo of Nunes on Wednesday, showing the stockroom worker with dyed blond hair and wearing glasses with brown frames.A police source said Nunes was last seen drinking at a bar in Lynn and her credit cards have not been used since her disappearance.”The last contact from Nunes was a frantic cell phone call to her residence at approximately 8:45 p.m., in which she told family members she was in her vehicle in Lynn, and in water, and needed help immediately,” Peabody Detective Robert Church said. “She has not been seen or heard from since.”The phone call transmission bounced off a cell phone tower in Lynn’s Wyoma Square, indicating the call was made within a 15-mile radius.After a tip from an Item reader, police searched the Saugus River in February. Tim Horgan, owner of the Stoneham Boat Center on the river, called police after reading about the case.He said that on the same day Nunes went missing, MassHighway closed the Belden Bly Bridge (Route 107) and a confusing detour led more than 100 drivers to drive onto his property. In the darkness or night, it would have been easy for Nunes to drive down a boat ramp and into the river.Police have searched the river at least twice and found nothing.Nunes’ family has declined comment to the media numerous times.Nunes was last believed to be driving a black 2007 Lexus ES350 sedan with license plate number (Mass.) 21GX72.Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to call Church at 978-538-6360.