On Monday, February 26, Maryland State Police (MSP) conducted a search by boat and on foot in Buddy Attick Park. Multiple boats spent several hours on Greenbelt Lake while officers from MSP and Prince George’s County Police Department spanned the lake path and searched the shoreline, eventually wading through parts of the Lake in the afternoon. They were looking for a missing woman from Queen Anne’s County who was last seen in Greenbelt. The park remained open for public use as officers conducted the search. Officers also previously searched Buddy Attick Park on foot with dogs on Wednesday, February 21.
On Monday, Detective Sergeant Blackwell of MSP told the News Review that they had searched the wooded areas of the park and were now conducting an underwater sonar search of the lake.
Laura Shallue, 54, of Stevensville, Md., drove westbound across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on Monday, February 5 around 8:30 p.m. She then made her way by car to Greenbelt, to visit a relative. During her last known conversation, which was in-person with her aunt, Shallue said she was heading to Buddy Attick Park. The next day, Shallue was reported missing. Her car remained parked nearby, on Lastner Lane.
To get to Greenbelt, she had been driving her silver 2007 Nissan Altima, Maryland registration, 6CC1702. MSP have investigated the car and found nothing suspicious. Greenbelt Police officers have been in the area several times canvassing the neighborhood and knocking on doors, looking for information and making residents aware of the missing person.
Shallue is a white woman with brown hair and eyes, approximately 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing around 155 pounds. She was last seen wearing a coat, scarf and small cross-body red or pink purse with a long strap.
It is not the first time Shallue has gone missing. Detective Sargeant Blackwell told the News Review that anytime someone is missing without medication it is a concern but detectives have not determined if missing medication is critical in this disappearance.
Greenbelt Lake is 20 feet at its deepest and has been the site of a tragic drowning and prolonged search in the past. In 1996, 25-year-old Dwayne Williams drowned after falling from a 12-foot motorized johnboat that had been rented from the concession and rental stand operating at the Lake at that time. It took three days of searching to recover his body (see the July 11, 1996, issue).
The search of the lake on Monday did not yield any evidence related to the disappearance of Laura Shallue.
Anyone with information regarding this case may contact the Maryland State Police Centreville Barrack at 410-758-1101. This case is currently active and ongoing.