Mystery remains: Search continues to find local missing New Madrid woman

Barbara Stoffer of New Madrid was last seen driving her vehicle on Aug. 20, 2013.

NEW MADRID, Mo. — Joey Higgerson’s first day with the New Madrid Police Department was still a week away, but he knew the force was short-handed and volunteered to start early.

That first day — Aug. 21, 2013 — he and his partner were asked to do a wellness check at a familiar address on Mitchell Street. It was the home of Barbara Stoffer.

“My grandparents lived on Pinnell. If you were in their backyard, you could see Mrs. Stoffer’s house. My dad knew her; I knew her,” Higgerson recalled.

The grave stone of Barbara Stoffer sits in the Evergreen Cemetery in New Madrid without a date of death. Last seen Aug. 20, 2013, the mystery around Stoffer's disappearance has yet to be solved. (Jill Bock/Standard Democrat)

Stoffer was not home and her green 1997 four-door Volvo 850 GLT was missing.

At least five witnesses saw Stoffer driving her car between 4 and 5:30 p.m. Aug. 20, 2013. Authorities traced her route from Main Street in New Madrid to Highway 61 to Highway 62 to Highway 153. It was last seen on Highway D, traveling west through Parma.

One person told law enforcement there was possibly a passenger in her car.

The search intensified. Volunteers along with law enforcement officers walked the banks of the Mississippi River and drainage ditches throughout the county in hopes of locating the 83-year-old Stoffer and her vehicle. Others used ATVs to search backroads and fields.

Nothing was found.

Ten years later, Higgerson, who now serves as New Madrid’s chief of police, said he thinks about the case daily.

Sitting in his office is a file several inches thick. Higgerson said it is just one of the files his department has relating to the case.

“We have had hundreds and hundreds of leads over the last 10 years especially the first couple of weeks,” he said. “We put many, many hours into the possible criminal part of the investigation and I would say just as much of our manpower was devoted to a possible accidental outcome.”

Over the years they have pulled numerous cars from the Mississippi River. None have matched Stoffer’s vehicle. They have searched other bodies of water in Southeast Missouri and other areas as well.

His department along with the New Madrid County Sheriff’s Department and the Missouri Highway Patrol interviewed hundreds of witnesses and persons of interest.

“We have exhausted leads. We have looked at things that are criminal, non-criminal and accidental. We have explored a lot of different angles,” he said. “On any type of investigation of a serious nature, you have got to keep an open mind and try to develop a hypothesis on what you think is the most likely scenario. That is one thing I can say, we have kept a very open mind.”

According to Higgerson, social media has also kept interest in the case alive. Several times a year his Department receives a phone call from someone explaining they heard about the case, did their own investigation and suggest a possible site to search.

Just last month one such call was received by the New Madrid Police Department.

“Even as trivial as those calls may seem, we send someone out to physically go to the spot to look. In that case there was nothing there but it is just a matter of, well like the old saying goes, negative results are still results. It is still a process of elimination,” Higgerson said.

The information is also added to the files.

Higgerson and his officers review the files periodically. Also the Chief asks any new officers on the force to review the Stoffer file when they have a chance.

“You never know what another set of eyes can do. People have different view points,” he said. “This case is not in the back of our mind, I promise you that. It is still at the forefront. There is no case that is open right now that is more important to us.”

With the advancements in law enforcement, Higgerson said such a missing person case today could be easier to solve. However, he still believes one day Stoffer’s disappearance will be solved.

Until then he said he and his officers will follow any leads they receive, pull cars from the rivers and ponds in hopes of finding a green 1997 Volvo and hope someone will come forward with the information to solve the mystery.

“I am confident something is going to happen. Some type of information is going to come in, something is going to be found and it is going to break this open,” Higgerson said. “We are going to bring this to a resolution and it can’t be too soon.”

Anyone with any information about the disappearance of Barbara Stoffer can contact the New Madrid Police Department at (573) 748-5901.