Family: Help us find missing woman

LYNN – A local family is distributing flyers, investigating leads and asking for the public’s help in finding a city woman whom family members said they have not seen or heard from since the middle of April.”It’s totally out of character,” Amy Robinson, the missing woman’s sister said Thursday. “It’s been too long and she has family that is concerned and worried and with her health problems, she needs to be home.”The family also said they are worried the missing woman’s age and past troubles with drugs may detract from attention to the case.”I realize because of her history that she may not be the highest priority to some people,” Donna Pleasant, the missing woman’s mother, said. “But she’s still somebody’s daughter, somebody’s sister, and somebody’s mother and regardless of her history, we still want to help her and help her get better.”Leeanne Marie Redden, 37, was last seen by family members on April 15, when she and her boyfriend visited Pleasant and Redden’s daughter and announced they planned to get married, Pleasant said.But Pleasant said the boyfriend called her the next morning and asked if she knew where Redden had gone. The boyfriend told Pleasant that Redden had disappeared.Pleasant said her daughter and the boyfriend were happy when they left Pleasant’s home. She said the man had helped support Redden – whom Pleasant said has suffered on and off for many years from heroin addiction – after meeting her through his son. Pleasant said the boyfriend told her that morning that he had gotten Redden drugs the night before.Pleasant said that Redden had gone missing about a decade ago, eventually found living with a new boyfriend in New Bedford. But Pleasant said Redden has always been in contact with the family since then – especially with Pleasant, as she has custody of Redden’s 10-year-old daughter.”She’s totally deviated from her normal routines – she’s never even gone without calling daily, going to my mom’s house weekly at least to see her daughter,” Robinson said.Pleasant said she knew Redden was missing when she didn’t call her or Redden’s daughter on Mother’s Day; something Pleasant said Redden always did.Pleasant said she then reported Redden as officially missing and said they have been regularly leaving messages for police since.Pleasant and Robinson said they are also frustrated with the police and local media, however; saying the detective assigned to the case has not returned calls and media have not taken much interest in the story.Lynn Police Lt. Christopher Kelly said last week the detective assigned to the case was on vacation.But Kelly said missing-person cases involving adults can be difficult to investigate. Adults have a right to break off contact with family members and leave an area.The department’s missing-persons website lists six criteria for a missing adult. These include the person may be in need of assistance, may be the victim of a crime or foul play, has no pattern of running away or disappearing, and may be in need of medical attention.A note at the bottom of the page, however, says “The Lynn Police Department does not have the authority nor the resources to find uprooted friends or relatives who have lost contact with each other. Concerned individuals who are interested in such matters are requested to employ other public and private resources.”Robinson said she understand the department’s constraints, but said she is still frustrated. The family also faces constraints – most notably Pleasant said the family could not afford a private investigator who gave her a quote of $80 an hour to work on the case.Nevertheless, Kelly said reporting a person as missing with local police ensures that if that person turns up in another city or town – for anything from to being pulled over for a broken car tail light to being involved in an alleged incident – the local police will see the person has been reported missing and should contact the local department.But the family is also reaching out in other