BRIGHTON — A Lake Clear woman missing since early Saturday morning has been found dead.
Carrie L. Bailey, 37, had been last seen shortly after midnight when she left a male friend's camp, headed out in her Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible.
State Police launched an intense ground and aerial search Monday night after her family reported their daughter missing.
Bureau of Criminal Investigation Capt. Robert LaFountain said Bailey was found dead at about noon Wednesday in her silver 2006 car.
IN CAMP DRIVEWAY
Seated behind the wheel, with the window down, Bailey had parked in the driveway of a small camp on Rainbow Lake next door to her grandmother's house. The driver's door was unlocked.
The property is on a remote side road off Hull Road, about a half-mile from where she had started out.
LaFountain said Bailey had been with a male friend and another person and had left them shortly after midnight Saturday.
Both are cooperating with the police investigation, LaFountain said at a press briefing in Gabriels Municipal Park Wednesday afternoon.
NO PUBLIC DANGER
The cause and manner of her death are unknown, LaFountain said, adding that police are considering several possibilities and have not ruled out suicide, natural causes or homicide.
But he did say police are not searching for anyone in connection with the death.
"Based on the investigation thus far, I see no concern for public safety," LaFountain said.
FAMILY WORRIED
Bailey's family first became concerned by her unexplained disappearance after she didn't show up for Sunday dinner, LaFountain said.
The 37-year-old woman lived in Lake Clear with her father and stepmother and usually kept in touch with frequent text messages.
The family contacted police Monday evening, and a search began.
"The family had great concern for her safety," LaFountain said.
INTENSIVE SEARCH
Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers and troopers organized the search, which intensified Tuesday, using helicopters and a Global Positioning Satellite grid search established by DEC.
"Forest rangers were kind enough to come over and set up a GPS mapping system to conduct a more detailed search of this area," LaFountain said.
The search started along roadways and ditches, since Bailey was last seen traveling in a vehicle. Police feared she may have crashed somewhere.
The car was not spotted from overhead through the dense forest growth, Capt. John Streiff told reporters Wednesday.
"The vehicle had a black top, which was difficult to spot from the air."
NO ONE NEARBY
Troopers began an intensive foot search around Rainbow Lake on Tuesday. The forested area has hundreds of summer and year-round camp homes.
"It didn't appear as if people had been utilizing the camps nearby," Streiff said, when asked if anyone else lived close to her grandmother's camp, where she was found.
Troopers James Butzer and Raymond Cauldwell found Bailey's body in the car. BCI Senior Investigator Edward Gibbs knew her and was able to make a positive identification.
Preliminary investigation suggests she had been dead for several days, LaFountain said.
AUTOPSY PLANNED
Brighton Town Councilor Peter Shrope Jr. said there was a visibly intense police presence in the Rainbow Lake area Wednesday.
"They've been driving up and down County Route 60," Shrope said from his nearby home Wednesday afternoon.
He said troopers went door to door asking residents if they'd seen Bailey or her distinctive car.
After she was found, Police BCI Lieutenant Scott Heggelke said, police placed a tarp over the vehicle and were conducting a thorough forensic investigation at the site, which was cordoned off.
Franklin County Coroner Ron Keough was called in to officially verify her death. An autopsy will be done, likely today, at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake.
Bailey was a 1992 graduate of Saranac Lake Central School and had a number of family members in the area.
She was currently unemployed.
— Contributing Writer Casey Ryan Vock contributed to this report.
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