BANGOR, Maine — Family and friends of Judi Therianos of Alfred haven’t heard from her since March 11 and are growing increasingly worried.
Therianos, who had gone to Florida to help care for a sick friend, last was seen picking up her clothes from a friend with whom she was staying, her close friend Glenda Cook of Shapleigh said Wednesday.
Since then, there have been two unconfirmed sightings, one at a restaurant in New Port Richey on March 24 and another the next day.
Cook said that Therianos has been reported missing on March 21 to police in Florida and Maine.
Family and friends have created a Facebook page in an effort to get the word out. They have reached out to people they know in Florida and asked them to keep an eye out for Therianos.
Orono-based Down East Emergency Medicine Institute also is assisting in the search, Cook said.
Richard Bowie, DEEMI’s director of operations, said Wednesday that DEEMI developed a network of contacts and volunteers while participating in the effort to find two Florida teens whose boat capsized off the Florida coast in July of last year.
On Thursday, Bowie said that a scent-specific dog team is on standby and that a scent article was being shipped to Florida in the event there is another sighting.
Cook described her friend as a petite redhead weighing between 100 and 110 pounds and about 5 feet 2 inches tall. She said Therianos is adventurous and friendly but also somewhat naive and trusting of people.
Cook said that it was highly unusual for Therianos not to maintain contact with family and friends in Maine, including her three children.
Also troublesome is that her family has been told that Therianos had a black eye and was in the company of an older man named Charlie when she last was seen.
Charlie is believed to be traveling in a rented late-model white SUV.
Cook said the missing woman had planned to find work through a temp agency in Florida to earn money to return to Maine.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Pasco County Sheriff’s Department in Florida or the Maine State Police.