Courtesy photo
Mineral County Sheriff Randy Adams and Undersheriff Bill Ferguson speak with the handler of a cadaver dog over a piece of pipe that was found during a search for the remains of Nita Mayo at the Hawthorne Army Depot. Nothing was found in the search requested by the Mayo family.

Members of the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office were joined by a dog and handler in search of missing Nita Mayo on Dec. 2.

Contacted by Detective Phillip Halencak of the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office in California, it was requested by the Mayo family to search the Connelly Drive area of the Hawthorne Army Depot for remains of the missing Hawthorne nurse.

The family requested that a cadaver dog be used to search the area of the housing area and Detective Halencak reached out to Mineral County Sheriff’s Office to see if they had access to a cadaver dog.

A dog and handler were provided to help search from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office.

In searching the Connelly Drive area, no evidence of Mayo was found.

Mayo was last seen in Hawthorne on Aug. 8, 2005 when she had breakfast with a friend, around 10 a.m., prior to leaving for a day trip to Sonora, Calif.

When the nurse did not return to her normally scheduled work day the next morning, coworkers found that that Mayo was not home and calls to authorities in both Nevada and California were made.

Two days after her last sighting, Mayo’s car was located at Donnell’s Vista Outlook, on California State Route 108. Inside were her keys, cell phone and purse. Only Mayo, her prescription sunglasses and her camera were missing.

Mayo is not the only person to have gone missing in Tuolumne County around the area where Mayo’s car was found. This summer, remains were found along the Old Strawberry Road in California, giving hope to many in Hawthorne that possibly Mayo had been found. For one family – closure finally came but not for the family of Mayo as the remains proved not to be that of the Englishwoman.

Speculations have swirled around her disappearance. That of a possible California State worker to even a former patient of hers. To date, none of the leads have lead to Mayo.

If you have information regarding this case, please contact either the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office at 775-945-2434 or the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office at 209-694-2900.