Vigil is Saturday for missing woman

Family and friends of Anesha “Duffy” Murnane, a missing Homer woman, will hold a candlelight vigil for her from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday at WKFL Park.

Members of Murnane’s family have said they believe she has been abducted and will make a public appeal to the alleged abductors at the vigil. Homer Police have not released any information or evidence supporting an abduction.

Murnane has been missing since Oct. 17 after she was last seen in a security camera image leaving her Main Street apartment. Murnane’s mother is Sara Berg and her step-father is Ed Berg.

Homer Police Lt. Ryan Browning said the case remains under investigation. Police have been following up on tips as they come in.

“We’re at the point of the investigation where we don’t have much more to go on,” he said on Tuesday. “It stinks. I wish had something better for the family.”

Sara Berg has been sharing stories of her daughter on a Facebook page, Bring Duffy Home, to increase awareness and maintain public interest in her daughter’s disappearance. She said in an earlier interview she wants to keep people talking about Murnane in hopes people will share information that might lead to her recovery. The family also has asked people to put up blue lights as a reminder of her disappearance. Blue is Murnane’s favorite color.

Murnane’s family has put up a $10,000 reward offered through Crimestoppers for any information leading to her return. Anonymous tips can be given to Crimestoppers by calling 907-283-8477. Information on the case is at the Peninsula Crime Stoppers page at www.peninsulacrimestoppers.com.

Murnane’s family also has a Go Fund Me account to raise money to assist the search.

She disappeared on Oct. 17 after leaving her Main Street apartment for an appointment at the SVT Health & Wellness clinic on East End Road. The last confirmed sighting is a security camera photo showing her leaving the Maintree Apartments, a supported housing complex, about 12:15 p.m. that day. Murnane had a 1 p.m. appointment at SVT Health and Wellness Center, about a 1-mile walk from her home. She did not show up for that appointment.

“We don’t know. We can’t say what happened to her,” Browning said on Tuesday about Murnane’s disappearance. “She dropped off from everything the day she went missing.”

Homer Police and Alaska State Troopers issued a Silver Alert on Oct. 19 for Murnane after she was reported missing that day. Anyone with information on her whereabouts can call Homer Police at 907-235-3150 or the Silver Alert hotline at 855-SILVR99 or 855-745-8799. A Silver Alert is for an adult considered a vulnerable person.

Murnane was wearing a blue jacket, light-blue shirt and blue jeans the last time she was seen. She is almost 6 feet tall, weighs about 160 pounds and has shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes. She carried a pink-and-black plaid purse with a shoulder strap and carried her wallet, cell phone and identification. Police said she does not drive or own a vehicle and got around by walking.

The weekend after Murnane went missing, search and rescue dog teams from Anchorage tracked her in the downtown area, picking up scents from Main Street to Lee Drive, Svedlund Street, Pioneer Avenue and Kachemak Way. Search dogs followed strong scents to Pioneer Avenue area near Cosmic Kitchen, in front of Homer’s Jeans and the Kachemak Bay Campus. There the dogs acted as if there had been what search dog handlers call a “car pick up.”

Murnane’s family say they believe someone picked her up in a vehicle and that she has been abducted.

Police feel confident they have ruled out Murnane disappearing in the downtown area near her home and getting lost because of illness or injury. Police haven’t found anything to suggest Murnane had suicidal or depressive thoughts or that she talked about disappearing.

Reach Michael Armstrong at marmstrong@homernews.com.