Libby-area woman, 74, still missing

The Daily Inter Lake

Lincoln County authorities are searching for a 74-year-old woman who has been missing for four days.

Joan Wallace, a resident of the McGinnis Meadows area, was last seen in Kalispell on Tuesday at a doctor's appointment, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office.

Family members said Wallace also stopped Tuesday afternoon at the Kalispell Albertsons grocery store where her daughter-in-law, Debbie Wallace, works.

Wallace never returned home Tuesday. Family members reported her missing the following day. She is 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighs 155 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes.

Wallace was driving a beige 1986 Nissan pickup with a Montana handicap license-plate number 14716. A small brown dog also was in the vehicle.

The dog has a rabies tag with the number 22812. It belongs to friends of Wallace; she was caring for the animal while the friends were out of the area, according to her granddaughter-in-law, Mariea Wallace.

Wallace relies on prescribed medication due to health problems and uses a cane to help her walk, the sheriff's office said.

Mariea Wallace said her grandmother-in-law does not have Alzheimer's disease or any mental impairment. Joan Wallace is well-known and active in the Libby community, where she worked for a time for animal control.

Wallace's son, Duane, had been staying at the rural McGinnis Meadows home to assist his mother.

Lincoln County search-and-rescue volunteers have scoured the area, and a helicopter from McGinnis Meadows Ranch has been used in the search, Mariea Wallace said.

Anyone who has information about Wallace's whereabouts or has seen her is asked to contact Lt. Roby Bowe at the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office at 293-4112, ext. 0.