Search continues for missing Santa Rosa woman in rugged Mark West area

Searchers Monday used ropes to lower themselves along steep, brushy hillsides above Mark West Creek, looking for a woman with mental and physical impairments missing since late Friday afternoon.

Catherine Huberty, 54, walked away from her northern Santa Rosa home on Mark West Springs Road where she was living with a caretaker, who reported her missing at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Crum said Monday.

Huberty’s last known location was captured on a neighbor’s surveillance video camera at 6:45 p.m. Friday. It showed the woman in a black dress and white shawl slowly walking up a steep driveway, dragging a large push broom with orange bristles behind her, Crum said.

She was described as a high-functioning schizophrenic with physical disabilities requiring her typically to use a cane. She’d also recently was diagnosed with the degenerative nerve disease known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS, Crum said.

Huberty lived in the 2200 block, a particularly rugged stretch of the rural Mark West Springs area, well above flowing Mark West Creek.

The video showed Huberty reaching the dead end of the driveway ?and moving out of range of the garage camera. ?Crum said the driveway ends in a trail along the precipitous hillside above the creek.

Huberty is described as white, 5 feet 6 inches ?tall, and weighing about 115 pounds, with brown ?hair and blue eyes.

Sunday, about 20 sheriff’s volunteer search-?and-rescue team members and search dogs combed the area. Monday ?six people and two dogs continued, as the search became more technical, requiring special training and ropes for safety, Crum said. They finished searching around dusk and planned to resume this morning.

Crum asked anyone with information about the woman to contact dispatchers at 707-565-2121.