The family of an Edmonton woman is worried after she left her winter home in Arizona and didn’t return.
Leslie Widynowski, 63, and husband Ken have been spending the last four winters in Surprise, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix.
Last Wednesday, Ken came hone from golfing and figured his wife had just popped out to the store.
She has not returned.
“That’s unlike her to leave without a note so our assumption... is that she thought she’d leave and be back before him, he wouldn’t even know that she left the house,” said Leann Hansen, Widynowski’s daughter.
An aerial search by helicopter and a ground search of medical facilities as well as homeless and women’s shelters have failed to turn up leads, as have flyers plastered in her Arizona community.
“Nobody saw her leave the house, nobody’s had any contact with her. 1/8We 3/8 can’t find the vehicle, can’t find her,” said Hansen.
“We don’t know what’s happened.”
The family is hoping alerts issued to vehicle tow lots, highway patrols, hospitals and both the Canadian and Mexican borders will turn up new information.
It’s believed Widynowski only had Canadian identification and minimal funds on her when she left her home.
Her passport, belongings and other travel documents are still at her house in Surprise and there have been no transactions on her bank accounts.
Hansen said as time elapses her father increasingly wrestles with despair over what happened to his wife of 42 years.
“Each day it’s becoming harder and much more of a struggle for him to stay positive. We’re really trying to keep his positive spirits up there and let him know that we will find her,” she said from Surprise, Ariz., where she flew from Edmonton to be with her dad.
Besides a bout with the flu, Widynowski was said to be healthy and in good spirits the week she disappeared.
She was set to fly to Edmonton on Dec. 15 for the Christmas holidays, and is due for a birthday at the end of the month.