‘It's Hard to Continue to Have Hope,’ Daughter Says: Woman, 78, Disappeared After Leaving Home Over a Week Ago

Illinois authorities continue their search for a missing 78-year-old woman with dementia who was last seen more than a week ago. 

In a Facebook post shared by the Country Club Hills Police Department on Wednesday, Oct. 16, authorities are asking the public for any information related to the disappearance of Yolanda Howell.

Per the police, Howell was last seen on Oct. 8 at her home in the 18600 block of Cedar Avenue in the suburb south of Chicago. She was reported missing three days later. 

Howell is described as an “endangered missing person” who “reportedly suffers from dementia,” measuring 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighing about 140 lbs. 

Her family told CBS affiliateWBBMthat "she suffers from dementia, which was getting progressively worse over the years," with relatives noting that she previously left her home alone and wandered around the neighborhood.

NBC affiliate WMAQ reported that there is ring camera footage of Howell leaving her home at the time of her disappearance, but police are not releasing it at the moment.

The outlet also reported that authorities searched several ponds in a forest preserve near Vollmer Road on Thursday, but found nothing at the time.

"All the dogs have tracked her here. It is unknown if she got into a vehicle or a good Samaritan picked her up," Country Club Hills Police Chief Michael Wilson said, per the outlet. “She may have been confused. We don’t know that. At this time, we’re followi -

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ng up on all leads.”

PEOPLE contacted the Country Club Hills Police for additional information on Friday, Oct. 18.

Claudette Edwards, Howell’s daughter, expressed concern about her mother’s welfare given the frigid weather. “It's hard to continue to have hope considering that it's been so cold. I know she doesn't have on a coat or anything," she told ABC affiliate WLS.

In addition to police, the search for Howell has involved a group of volunteers and K-9 units, WBBM reported. 

"It's a needle in a haystack,” Lorenzo Longoria, a Team Canine member, told WBBM. “We have to just keep on searching. Hopefully, you know, with the elements that we've been through in the past week, it's very, very hard, but time is of the essence, and hopefully we're able to find her before it's too late." 

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“We’re going to keep looking until we find her,” Wilson said of Howell, per WMAQ.

The Country Club Hills Police Department has set up an online page for volunteers interested in becoming members of a search party for the missing Howell.

Anyone with information about Howell’s whereabouts can call the Country Club Hills Investigations Unit at 708-798-3191.

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