Lauretta Shoemaker believes that her daughter Aurora will be found, but it doesn’t make it any easier waiting for her to come home safely.
On August 16, Aurora Shoemaker told her mother that she was going for a walk, but did not return home. Lauretta contacted the Kosciusko County Jail on Saturday and asked if her daughter was there to visit her boyfriend who is in jail. When the guards informed Lauretta that her daughter did not show up she filed a missing persons report with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department.
“She talked to me Thursday,” Lauretta Shoemaker said. “Usually she contacts me through texting or calling once a day. If she doesn’t contact me that day she does within the next two or three days.”
Shoemaker has not seen her daughter in more than a week and has kept in contact with KCSD detectives.
“They are doing everything they can and following every lead possible,” Shoemaker said.
While KCSD detectives investigate the disappearance of Aurora, Lauretta is trying to get a search party together to search the area near Suburban Acres Mobile Home Park where Aurora would take walks.
“I am trying to get people together to search for her,” Shoemaker said. “We are working on getting a map of the area in which she would have went for a walk.”
Addtionally Shoemaker said she needs to talk to and get permission from property owners to search their property for her daughter.
There was supposed to be a search Wednesday at 4 p.m. but when Shoemaker arrived everyone had left.
Shoemaker said that Aurora took daily walks since she was a young girl.
The difficulty of possibly losing her daughter has taken an extreme mental toll on Shoemaker and her three other children.
“It’s hard mentally,” Shoemaker said. “There has been a change in the other kids when they found out about Aurora.”
“I want to be there for Aurora, but I also want to be there for the other children.” Shoemaker said. “I feel like some times I am not doing enough.”
Through it all Shoemaker is staying positive and believes that Aurora will come home safely.
“If we do the search and find nothing, I believe the police will find her,” Shoemaker said. “It will be a big relief if we find nothing during the search, because then I will know nothing happened to her on her walk.”
If anyone has a lead or information that could help find Aurora Shoemaker contact the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department at 574-267-5667 and ask for KCSD detectives.
