NEWS-TIMES WHIDBEY
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2011 | Vol. 120, No. 93 | WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75¢
Sports: Oak Harbor athletes honored. A9
‘We’re almost out of everything.’ Detectives ‘hit a wall’ in search for missing woman Whidbey Island — Jean Wieman, Help House
By JESSIE STENSLAND
food banks in need for Thanksgiving
Staff reporter
Investigators have exhausted leads in the mysterious disappearance of an elderly, medically fragile North Whidbey woman who hasn’t been seen since June. “We’ve hit a wall,” Detective Ed Wallace with the Island County Sheriff’s Office admitted. Betty Tews, an 81-year-old resident of Sonic Lane, went missing sometime prior to June 21. Wallace said investigators believe foul play may have been involved in her disappearance and they have identified “a person of interest” in the case, but they’re not naming the individual. Tews, however, previously sought protection orders against her 55-year-old son, Raymond Willey, who had been living with her. She had accused him in court papers of pointing a gun at her head. Detectives reported that Willey was evasive about his mother’s whereabouts after she disappeared and then he suddenly left the state. Investigators searched Tews’ densely wooded property and the property of her neighbors, but found nothing. Wallace said a dog team was brought in, but the canines didn’t pick up a trail. Detectives obtained a warrant to search the house, her vehicles and analyzed her computer for clues; again, they didn’t find anything. They’ve monitored her bank account, but there’s been no activity. The investigators interviewed neighbors, friends and family, but nobody could help them find Tews. She has medical problems and is in need of daily medicine, but hasn’t refilled her prescriptions. “It’s like she disappeared into thin air for the most part,” Wallace
By REBECCA OLSON Staff reporter
Betty Tews, left, has been missing since June 21 and investigators say they have “hit a wall.” Above is the home in which Tews lived on Sonic Lane in Oak Harbor. Police searched the property and surrounding wooded area with a dog team but turned up nothing.
said. “We’re kind of at a dead end right now. We’re run through the entire investigative gamut with this.” Tews’ rambler on Sonic Lane, a private road, is surrounded by woods and is out of sight of neighbors. One neighbor, who didn’t want her name to be used, described Tews as a tiny, frail woman who could also be very feisty. There’s a story about Tews standing in front of a bulldozer to stop it from going onto her land. The neighbor said Tews’ son kept her isolated and turned away any neighbors who tried to help
the elderly woman. Her husband, Glenn, died in 2009. The neighbor said it’s both scary and sad to have a neighbor disappear so mysteriously. She said her daughters used to enjoy walking in the woods, but now they’re not allowed to go out there. “We like to think Whidbey is our own little paradise, so this is upsetting,” she said. Tews’ relatives on the mainland reported her missing in June after they hadn’t heard from her in a couple of weeks. Willey was living SEE TEWS, A7
IN CASH AND PRIZES
Whidbey food banks will serve more families than ever this holiday season, but warehouses are becoming bare. The North Whidbey Help House’s warehouse is fairly empty, said Jean Wieman, executive director. Donations are down 30,000 food items compared to last year. “They’re not down a whole lot but the numbers (needing help) are up from last year so it makes a big difference,” Wieman said. From January through October this year, the Help House has served 13,668 people, which is up more than 500 people from last year’s count of 13,131 people served. For Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Help House will distribute special holiday food baskets, which include everything needed for a tasty turkey dinner, like stuffing, potatoes, cranberries, pumpkin pie filling and more. The Help House will distribute holiday baskets to 160 military families and more than 400 civilian families, Wieman said. People can sign up for a Thanksgiving basket until Wednesday, Nov. 23. Christmas basket sign-ups begin Monday, Nov. 28. To sign up, people should visit the Help House, located at 1091 SE Hathaway St., Oak Harbor, and bring a picture ID and a utility bill or other document with their current address.
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Gifts from the Heart Food Bank in Coupeville will be feeding 160 families in Coupeville and Greenbank for Thanksgiving. Sign-ups for food baskets have ended. The food bank usually serves 125 families at each twice-monthly distribution in Coupeville and Greenbank. The number of people served has increased 16 percent this year, said executive director Molly Hughes. “That’s the highest single year increase in clients in recent history,” Hughes said. However, food drives resulted in half as much food as usual. “Food donations are down this year but monetary donations remained pretty consistent,” Hughes said, adding that the food bank has had to buy more food than in the past. The relay race fundraiser at Coupeville’s Harvest Festival earlier this year brought in $10,000 for the food bank, which was more money than the last three years of the fundraiser combined, Hughes said. “So our community is doing a great job of supporting us,” Hughes said. Gifts from the Heart needs basic food items, including canned
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