Former missing Pasadena wife says she left home because of 'family issues'
Patty
By Gene Maddaus, Staff Writer
Pasadena Star News
April 5, 2004
PASADENA -- A 57-year-old woman who was missing for 11 days spent most
of the time in the boiler room of her condominium complex, less than
100 feet from her front door, police said Monday.
Ann Clary Judy told investigators she left home March 23 and spent the
first day in a nearby field. She then spent several hours in a
neighbor's back yard before moving to the unlocked boiler room and
hiding behind some cardboard.
Judy told investigators that a maintenance man came to the room to
retrieve a ladder but did not see her because she was hidden.
Bloodhound dogs alerted on the empty field on March 24, but Judy had
already left the area, Lt. Randell Taylor said.
"We think we just missed her," Taylor said.
Judy told investigators she did not eat during her 11-day ordeal. She
said she drank from water in the boiler room.
She said she left home due to "personal family issues," police
spokeswoman Ronnie Nanning said.
When she felt she could no longer survive in the boiler room, she
walked upstairs on Saturday night and rang the doorbell. Her husband
found her slumped on the front step incoherent. She was taken to the
hospital, where she will remain for the next three to four days.
Her husband said she was severely dehydrated and had lost a lot of
weight.
"She lived back there for nine days," Taylor said. "It's absolutely
amazing."
Larry Judy said he and his wife had "never spent a night apart in
anger in 36 years of marriage." The two had not had a fight before his
wife's disappearance, he said.
"If there was an accumulation of things, we just plain all missed it,"
he said.
The police dogs searched the underground garage area on March 25 and
alerted again, Taylor said. Police believe Judy was in the neighbor's
back yard at the time, he said. The police checked the garage but did
not go into the back yard.
Judy told investigators she did not see or hear the searchers at the
time.
Taylor said it was difficult to track Judy using the dogs because she
did not go anywhere she had not been previously. She was known to take
frequent walks in the field near her house, so when the dogs alerted
in the area, it was difficult to tell if she had been there recently
or if the dogs were picking up an older, residual scent, Taylor said.
Taylor ruled out the suggestion that Judy might have been suffering
from mental problems.
"She was certainly in sound mind," he said.
Taylor said police were 99 percent sure that Judy was "voluntarily
missing," but had to investigate to rule out foul play.