8 p.m.:
Troopers have initiated a Silver Alert for Sharon Eileen Berghone, a disabled Nikiski woman who has been missing since Monday evening.
Berghone, who lives on Romanov Street, has not been found after troopers responded to the area around her house with search equipment and members of the Nikiski Fire Department, according to a trooper dispatch. Alaska State Troopers Public Information Officer Megan Peters said it is believed that Berghone is wearing pajamas or sweatpants. Troopers have notified other law enforcement agencies of the situation, as well as cab companies and area hospitals, Peters said.
She said information about the case from troopers on the ground has been slow to come in since the state holiday meant fewer people were in the office Wednesday.
Original Story:
A Nikiski woman is asking for help finding her mother, who she says has been missing since Monday evening.
Patsie Blakely said her mother, Eileen Berghone, last spoke with her on the phone around 9 p.m. on Monday. She has not been seen or heard from since and has not returned to her home at the north end of Holt Lamplight Road.
Berghone turned 64 on Tuesday, Blakely said.
“When she wasn’t home, I didn’t really think too much of it,” Blakely said. “I assumed friends had come and picked her up and took her out for her birthday.”
Blakely said when she called the troopers on Tuesday afternoon, they said they would put out an alert and keep an eye out for Berghone. Alaska State Troopers Public Information Officer Megan Peters said in an email the troopers information office is short staffed as Wednesday is a state holiday.
“When adults go missing, a (law enforcement officer) alert is placed in our systems so if law enforcement makes contact with them they can verify their wellbeing,” Peters said.
Peters said she didn’t have any more information as of Wednesday morning.
Berghone is disabled and needs the help of a cane to get around in addition to oxygen and medications, Blakely said.
“She is on oxygen all the time and she has one to travel with,” Blakely said. “She has a bad back… bad neck, bad legs.”
All of Berghone’s medical equipment, her purse and her car are still at her house, Blakely said. During their last conversation, Blakely said Berghone didn’t indicate that she was planning on going anywhere.
Blakely and some local friends searched up and down Holt Lamplight Road Tuesday night, she said.
“I was looking for prints, I was looking for anything,” Blakely said.
Blakely asks that anyone who sees Berghone calls the Alaska State Troopers at 262-4453. Berghone is a 5-foot-3-inch woman with blonde hair.
Reach Megan Pacer at megan.pacer@peninsula.com.
