Search Expands for Missing Grandmother Pat O'Hagan

Sept. 19, 2010 — -- A hundred volunteers from as far as Connecticut and Cape Cod came to Vermont this weekend to help the search for a grandmother of nine who has been missing for than a week.

Pat O'Hagan, 78, was last seen on Friday, Sept. 10, but was reported missing the following Sunday, when she failed to show up for a rug hooking class she never missed.

Now police say that her disappearance is "suspicious" and that foul play is likely involved.

The volunteers helped police and the FBI comb a 25-square-mile area around Sheffield, Vt., scuba divers even checked a nearby quarry, but there was still no sign of the missing grandmother.

"Anybody who has information relative to the case that can be helpful to please come forward," her son, Terry O'Hagan, said.

The mystery began last weekend, when a friend came to pick up O'Hagan for a rug hooking meeting. O'Hagan was nowhere to be found, but her car was still in the driveway.

Police said there was no reason to believe she has wondered off on her own.

Missing person signs are now posted all over Sheffield, a quiet town of 700 people, while O'Hagan's children cling to memories of an active senior who cherished her family.

O'Hagan's family said the 78-year-old is not forgetful. She doesn't have a boyfriend, and isn't wealthy, so there would be no financial motive for her abduction. In fact, they said, they've been racking their brains trying to think of anyone who doesn't like her.

"We've been looking and can't find anybody," said Maureen O'Hagan, her daughter.

But police said last week they believe the woman, who enjoys arts and crafts and was once the president of her town's historical society, has been abducted from her home.

"Based on the investigation and her known activities and the fact that she is very physically active and mentally sound, there is no reason to believe that she has wandered off on her own," said Vermont State Police Det. Sgt. Jason Letourneau in a statement to the press.

"I will not get into the details as to why we came to the conclusion that she left her residence against her will, but all indicators point in this direction," he said.

The FBI has joined the search for O'Hagan, and authorities have spent days combing fields, wooded areas and abandoned buildings searching for clues in the grandmother's disappearance. The police department is offering a $5,000 reward for information in the case.

Also searching for O'Hagan are her five children, all of whom have traveled to Sheffield to help in the search.

Terry O'Hagan, 47, described his missing mother to ABC News as "not your typical 78-year-old retired woman."

"She is extremely active, she camps, kayaks, and volunteers at the library," he said. "We get exhausted reading the list of activities she's involved with."

Terry O'Hagan said his mother is extremely healthy for a woman of her age, and takes no medication.

Matt O'Hagan, another son, said that he and his siblings have been working with police to search different areas that may not have been covered.

"We're out on back roads, we're out knocking on doors, we've got flyers, we're talking to people," he said. "There's somebody out there that knows something or has seen something."

"We know she's been abducted against her will, and we know that she's out there, and somebody has some information, and please call it in, we need something," he said.

Missing Grandmother Pat O'Hagan Was Abducted from Her Vermont Home

O'Hagan moved with her late husband from Chelmsford, Mass., to Sheffield in the mid 1990s; her husband died a few years later in 2001.

Her kids say that O'Hagan didn't have a boyfriend and had no financial windfall that would make her a likely target of abduction.

"She wasn't a rich woman," a friend, Francie Vos, told The Associated Press. "She was not stingy, but she had to watch every penny."

O'Hagan's family -- her five children, nine grandchildren and 25 nieces and nephews -- all say they remain hopeful their beloved relative will return safely.

"Every day is another day she's been missing, we keep hoping that wherever she is, that someone took her for a reason and that she's well," said another son, 45-year-old Mark O'Hagan.

"But the days are getting longer," he said. "They're definitely getting longer."

ABC News' Don Ennis contributed to this report.