Lynnfield native missing in Nicaragua

LYNNFIELD – Friends and family are organizing across the country and online to help the search for a Lynnfield native who has disappeared in Nicaragua.Karen Colclough, 37, of Wyoming, disappeared April 11 from the Barcelo Montelimar resort near Montelimar, Nicaragua, while on a church mission trip.”She’s very loving, calm, sweet, thoughtful, always smiling, generous, all of those things ? you couldn’t ask for a better daughter,” Janet Colclough, Karen’s mother, said Sunday. “We’d just like to have our daughter back.”Karen was among six fellow members of the Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole who went on a church-sponsored, weeklong service trip through Agros International, of Seattle, according to information from Karen’s family and a Saturday night message to the family from Don Manning, president of Agros International, an agency that works to end poverty in Latin America.Manning told the family the group was led by Agros staff and was working with local farmers in Tierra Nueva, Nicaragua. The group had gathered at the resort for the customary end-of-trip debrief, he reported.The group had no scheduled activities Friday afternoon and Manning told the family that Karen was last believed to have been seen around 11 a.m. that day, planning to go for a run on the beach. Manning said Karen did not join the group for a scheduled dinner Friday night and local authorities were notified that evening.Search efforts as of Saturday night included searchers on foot, horseback and all-terrain vehicle, Manning reported. A Red Cross dive team and a Nicaraguan Army dog unit were also involved. But Manning said searchers had so far found no sign of Karen.Meanwhile, the US embassy has been notified, photos of Karen have been distributed in the areas where she was last seen, as well as at local hospitals, and media have been notified. The founder and board chairman of Agros have also arrived in Nicaragua, and the director of security of World Vision, an international relief organization, is assisting in the search. Other agencies include the Nicaraguan National Police, the Nicaraguan Army, and the Nicaraguan Red Cross, according to a statement on Agros’ Faceboook page.”Our hearts are all broken and we are praying fervently while working with every agency possible,” Judy Jansen of Agros wrote in an email.Manning is now with Karen’s friends in Wyoming, according to Agros.Karen was believed to have been carrying a camera, diary and Bible when she was last seen, Manning reported. Two security officers at different resorts reported they may have seen Karen around 1 p.m. Friday taking pictures and then running on the beach, Manning reported.A farmer reported seeing Karen walking through a field towards some cliffs, according to family and friends.Locally, Karen’s brother, Michael Colclough, said he was manning a “command center” at his home in central New Hampshire to try and spread the message about his missing sister. Friends have established a Find Karen Colclough Facebook page and are spreading word via Twitter.Janet Colclough said Karen worked on the ski patrol at Jackson Hole and also lead bike tours, so she has been trained in wilderness survival and is familiar and comfortable being outdoors. Karen also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity and skiing programs for children with disabilities, according to her parents.”She just loves helping people,” Janet Colclough said.Karen’s friend Stephanie Scaffidi agreed.”She’s always been there for me when I’ve needed her, and now I’m far away? I’m doing everything I can to help and to help her family,” Scaffidi said.Scaffidi said it was frustrating being in Massachusetts waiting for news. But she said she can be most effective bringing attention to the search.”If you can’t be there, you want to know that the right people are doing as much as they can,” Scaffidi said.Michael Colclough agreed.”The more people who know, the more people who can pressure them to search,” he said.Friend Victoria Howland star