UPDATE: Lockport police tell 7 News that Sara Nicole Morningstar, a Lockport mother who has been missing for almost a month, has been located and is safe.
ORIGINAL: A Lockport mother has been missing for almost a month and on Saturday, volunteers held a search party to try to find clues to her whereabouts.
Sara Nicole Morningstar was last seen on May 24 at her home on East Avenue. She and her husband run a tattoo shop that's on the first floor of their home.
Her husband, Lux Morningstar, tells 7 News that he was home that afternoon and remembers his wife saying she was going to go upstairs to put on her makeup. He later realized she was missing. He checked surveillance cameras and saw her leaving the house at about 2:30 p.m., heading east on East Avenue, and possibly getting into a car.
Both her husband and her father tell 7 News that she has struggled with mental health issues in the past and has run away. But she's never been gone this long before. She also usually posts on social media. But they said there's been no trace of her since she left.
"Normally when she...goes to her parent's house or to her friend's house, she will stay active on social media. She's not active on social media. So that's why we're worried," Lux Morningstar said.
Her father described her as "mentally unstable" at times, "She gets into these episodes or feelings that she has to leave. She has to find a better way, better life."
On Saturday, volunteers with the WNY Missing and Unidentified Persons Network searched for Sara in Lockport.
"Nobody's heard anything from her. There's no activity on social media that we've seen. So we're hopeful that somebody has seen her somewhere," said Jenni M., a team leader with the organization.
They taped up posters and looked through areas she could be, including by train tracks and the woods.
Both Sara's husband and father put out messages to her, hoping she'd come home.
"We're worried about you. We're all worried about you. We wouldn't be here, you wouldn't be doing this, just pick up the phone and call and say I'm ok. You know, that's all you have to do," her father said.
"If someone does have her bring her home, she needs to come back to her family. If she's out having fun. That's ok. We understand…we miss you just come home safe, please," her husband said.
Lockport police are investigating her disappearance. They listed her as a "vulnerable adult" and asked for the public's help in finding her.
The volunteers are also asking anyone with security video that may show Sara to provide that to police.
Lockport police are asking anyone with information to call Detective Lt. Steve Tarnowski at 716-439-6718, police dispatch at 716-433-7700 or the police confidential tip line at 716-439-6707.
