News 12 First at Five, Wednesday August, 25, 2010

AUGUSTA, Ga.---The search continues for a missing woman with Downs Syndrome. Pat Burley disappeared Sunday night and now family members are desperately trying to find her.

Friends, family along with investigators spent the day looking for 55-year old Pat Burley.

The search has mostly focused on a 15-square mile area surrounding Burley's Wrightsboro road home.

Late Wednesday afternoon a helicopter was brought in to search from the sky. With every hour that goes by, Pat's family and friends know the odds are against them...but right now they're staying positive and hope to bring Pat home safely.

"Help us find Miss Pat," yells a volunteer encouragingly.

Family and friends are trying to get the word out, hoping to find Pat Burley alive.

"We still have faith in God, Lord Jesus Christ that he would sure enough bring her safely home. I'm just having faith. I don't want to hear no negativity," says Pat's cousin and caretaker, Deborah Hobbs.

Pat was last seen Sunday night with a man near The United House of Prayer on Wrightsboro Road.

"Everybody who's passed by The House of Prayer or Mount Calvary or Wrightsboro Road knows Pat, because she's either walking from The House of Prayer or to The House of Prayer," says fellow church member and friend, Chantele Lawson.

Investigators checked abandoned homes and sheds. They say wandering off is out of character for the 55-year-old mentally disabled woman, which makes them, and her friends think the worst.

"She never goes anywhere past Wrightsboro Road, never. She wouldn't have wandered off, somebody would have had to take her because she's not the person who would wander," says Lawson.

Investigators are calling 29-year-old Corey Smith a person of interest. They say Smith was the last one with Pat.

"Definitely scared, we can't sleep at night, can't eat," says Hobbs.

"We're all worried because you know, she's getting tired and we know she's probably scared. We just want her back," adds Lawson.

Dozens of people spent the day passing out fliers, all to help a friend in need.

"We all love her. She's our church member. She's our friend, to her, everybody is her cousin. She's just loved," says Lawson.

"If she see you down the street, you would think that you knew her because she would want to grab you and hug you, that's how lovable she is," Hobbs describes her cousin.

Now all anyone can do is wait.

"That's basically what we're doing now...just praying," says Lawson.

"Anybody, everybody. Please bring Pat home," says Hobbs.

Corey Smith, the person of interest, is being held for assaulting an officer. Investigators tell News 12 he's not cooperating or giving many details about Pat and her whereabouts.

The Sheriff's Office is getting a lot of information but not all of it is correct. Wednesday there was a tip she may have been found in a nearby park, but of course that was false. There is also talk of a reward, hoping money will get more people talking.