WASHINGTON — As the search widens in Shenandoah National Park for a missing Fairfax County firefighter, her husband has tearfully expressed love for his wife, and hopes for her safe return.
“Sweetheart, I love you, and I’m praying for you,” said Steven Mittendorff, during a news conference Tuesday morning at the Fairfax County firehouse where 31-year-old Nicole Clardy Mittendorff works. “I’m not sure where you are, but know we are looking for you, and I look forward to your safe return.”
The National Park Service has closed more areas in the Whiteoak Canyon area of the park — Limberlost, Whiteoak Canyon Fire Road, Crescent Rocks, Cedar Run, Cedar Run Link Trail and the Skyland to Big Meadows Horse Trail — as the search for the career firefighter/paramedic, who was last heard from Wednesday, continued.
Initially the search was located near the Whiteoak Canyon Trail, near where Nicole Mittendorff’s cream-colored Mini Cooper was found Saturday in a remote parking lot in the Madison County portion of the park.
“Expanding the search is a natural progression,” Corinne Geller, spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, told WTOP. “The park is huge — it’s a mountain.”
Approximately 100 federal, state and volunteer search and rescue teams have been searching for Mittendorff in a section of the park that lies more than 70 miles from her Woodbridge, Virginia, home.
Geller said the Mini Cooper, which was located by a park ranger, has been removed “and is being processed for potential evidence about what brought her to the park.”
Geller would not say whether anything found in Mittendorff’s car would indicate where she was heading or what could have happened to her.
“There is still no evidence to indicate anything suspicious about Mittendorff’s disappearance,” Geller said. “This is a missing person investigation.”
Steve Mittendorff, choking back emotion, spoke to reporters for the first time since his wife was reported missing last week.
“As you can imagine, the pain of not knowing where a loved one is can be unbearable,” he said.
Mittendorff thanked agencies and individuals who have been searching for his wife, and made a request of the media.
“I ask that you not focus on the face of a worried husband or family members, but that you focus on broadcasting her picture, and telling her story, so that someone who has not seen the coverage, will,” he said.
Geller would not say whether Nicole Mittendorff might want to disappear without telling anyone.
Fairfax County Fire Chief Richard Bowers issued a plea to the public, asking anyone with any information that could help with the search to contact Virginia State Police. But he also had a message for the missing firefighter/paramedic.
“Nicole, if you can hear us, please get a message to us, by any means, right away,” Bowers said.
On Monday evening, St. Paul United Methodist Church in Woodbridge held a prayer vigil for Mittendorff.
Anyone with information about Mittendorff’s whereabouts can contact the Virginia State Police by phone at 703-803-0026 or send an email to questions@vsp.virginia.gov.
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|REPLAY| NEWS CONFERENCE: Update on missing Fairfax County Firefighter #katch #Periscope https://t.co/0nm6YlpPv9 pic.twitter.com/xcDaOsAmek
— Nick Iannelli (@NickWTOP) April 19, 2016
WTOP’s Nick Iannelli contributed to this report from Burke, Virginia.
