Search for missing Stoddard County woman who disappeared Christmas Eve continues

POWE, Mo. -- The search for a missing Bernie, Mo., woman continues, although efforts have been scaled back since the search began on Christmas Eve.

Shirley Stratton, 49, was swept into the swollen ditch waters alongside Route U near the Powe community early on the morning of Dec. 24 while en route to her job in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Despite rescue attempts from two area residents who witnessed Stratton's 1999 Ford Taurus hydroplane and then travel into the rising flood waters, the woman was carried into the swift and muddy waters that flow into the St. Francis River.

The Missouri State Water Patrol has been assisted by the highway patrol, the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department, volunteers and family members in trying to locate the woman, but all that has been found are two articles of clothing spotted hours after she disappeared into the water.

After nearly two weeks of searching with divers, a helicopter, all-terrain vehicles, dogs and volunteers on foot, the recovery effort Tuesday involved a lone water patrol boat with one member aboard.

"The waters are icy and difficult to navigate," Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Dale Moreland said Tuesday. While both areas are still the focus of the search, Moreland said efforts this week are focused more on the river itself than on the ditch where Stratton was last seen.

Highway patrol officers are no longer actively involved in the search on a daily basis but they remain on call.

Shirley Stratton's husband, John Wayne Stratton, along with several family members, have also been actively involved in the search process. Freezing temperatures have hampered the work of divers from the water patrol, and efforts were underway Tuesday to possibly organize a search party on horseback.