Pond being drained in search for missing Mo. woman

WARSAW, Mo. (AP) - A west-central Missouri pond is the focus of a continuing search for a woman who has been missing for more than three weeks.

Teams are draining the pond in Benton County this week in search for any clues in the disappearance of 72-year-old Hellen Cook. She was last seen July 13, when she walked away from a vacation home near Warsaw. She suffers from Alzheimer's disease.

The woman's shoes and scarf were found in late July near the pond.

KMBC-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1en5GbK ) investigators said they don't think Cook's body is in the pond but they want to be sure.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the pond was already scheduled to be drained this year.

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Information from: KMBC-TV, http://www.kmbc.com