Elena Roy should have been celebrating her 84th birthday this week, but search crews are reaching a second week since the last time she was seen.
"We always celebrated her birthday," said Tami Young, Roy's daughter. "Always."
Sheriff’s deputies said Roy was last seen leaving her home in the 900 block of Woodcreek Road in Fallbrook on Nov. 3. Her husband of 14 years, Chris Cataldo, told NBC 7, Roy has early onset dementia and the two argued on Nov. 3 about the placement of a picture frame. He said she then stormed out of the house around 1:30 p.m. When she didn't return hours later, he said he called the police to report her missing and then notified her family.
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"I got up out of bed, got dressed and came here and got my son and Dorene and we went to his house and the sheriffs were there and then we just started searching for her, said Jessica Swart, Roy's daughter.
Since then, her family along with friends and neighbors have organized multiple searches to try and find the missing woman.
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"We just want anyone to help us," said Swart. "If she got in a car… She's lived in so many places, she lived all over North County. If her dementia is kicking in and someone picks her up. We just want everyone to look at her picture and study it.”
Her family says they don't believe Roy could’ve walked too far on her own due to a medical condition.
"She has bone spurs in her hip and it has gotten worse and worse," said Swart. "She now walks kind of with a limp.”
Elena Roy is 5’4 about 110 to 120 pounds with gray hair and brown eyes. Her husband says she was last seen wearing a light tri-colored sweater the day she left home. The same sweater she is seen wearing on this surveillance footage from a day before her disappearance.
Her family desperate to find her is now planning another search for Saturday hoping more people will join.
"It's just been way too long and we’re begging," said Dorene Swart, granddaughter-in-law. "If anyone picks her up just please contact the authorities so we can get her home as soon as possible.”
Those interested in joining Saturday's search for Elene Roy are asked to meet at Estrella's Restaurant in Fallbrook at 9 a.m. The restaurant is located at 3757 S Mission Rd, Fallbrook, CA 92028.
NBC 7 reached out to the Sheriff’s Department for an update on the investigation, but they didn't have one at this time.
Roy's case has now been transferred to the homicide unit because it has been weeks since she went missing. The sheriff's department says this is standard procedure.
