Tahoe Mountain News publisher Taylor Flynn describes painful search for missing mother Deanna Brooks

Editor's Note: The story below is about my friend and colleague Taylor Flynn's search for his missing mother Deanna Brooks. Taylor wrote about the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and the long and painful searches for her in the September issue of the Tahoe Mountain News. Go here for his column. The Flynn family wishes to express their gratitude to the South Lake Tahoe community for the outpouring of prayers, thoughts and support. A Facebook page has been established as part of the search, www.facebook.com/find.deanna
On a personal level, it has been painful to see my friend Taylor going through this very difficult time with his family. It serves as a reminder about the importance for family members and friends to check in with one another often as they travel and to provide travel plans including departure and expected arrival times as well as the highways and roadways to be taken. A brief phone call or text message while filling up the gas tank or stopping for a break is always a safe practice when driving long distances. The same can be applied to those going on backcountry trips where an itinerary to family and friends — including departure and expected arrival — should be considered mandatory for hikers and campers. — Jeff Munson

SANTA CRUZ - After three weeks of searches on the sides of Highway 101 and surrounding roads in five counties, Taylor Flynn has not given up hope of finding his mother.

Flynn, the 49-year-old publisher of the Tahoe Mountain News in South Lake Tahoe, was one of the last people to see 70-year-old Deanna Brooks before her disappearance Aug. 24.
He wrote a column in his paper this week that described parts of two searches he has made - along with crisscrossing searches made by his older brother and younger sister. They flew from their homes in Georgia and New York, respectively.
Brooks, who lives on Berkeley Way in Santa Cruz, had planned a trip on Aug. 24 to see her mother, Nan, for her 90th birthday in San Diego.
She usually took Highway 101, but she failed to arrive in San Diego. She was reported missing Aug. 26.
Flynn described Brooks as a "loving, with-it grandmother of eight who had been planning this trip for weeks." She is 70 but seems younger and does not have dementia, Flynn said.
"My mind's always been that she fell asleep and drove off the side of the road," he said Thursday.
Now, he and other family members don't know what to think.
In his column "We're still looking for you, mom," Flynn described how his heart dropped on Sept. 7 when he learned that a body had been found near highways 101 and 156 outside Aromas.
He called it "one of the worst nights of my life," in part because it was close to his mother's intended route. Flynn and his wife watched a video from a television news website "in horror."
Deputies did not release the name, age or gender of the victim that day, but Flynn said he reached a San Benito County deputy about midnight requesting information.
"I could hear myself rattle off mom's statistics in a monotone (voice). Then, Sgt. Burbank replied ever so clearly, 'I cannot tell you anything about the investigation, except that it is definitely not your mother.'"
The woman was in her 20s or 30s and of Asian descent, deputies later said.
Thursday, Flynn said some days hit him harder than others.
Although he lives in South Lake Tahoe, he visited Brooks in Santa Cruz the week of her disappearance.
They had dinner at a Chinese restaurant on Pacific Avenue on Aug. 22. The next night, a Thursday, Flynn stopped by her house on Berkeley Way.
"She was getting ready for this trip for a while," Flynn said. "She seemed a little stressed and had this list of things to do."
They were tasks like fixing her printer - which he did so she could finish a greeting card job. Flynn said he also checked the oil on Brooks' gold, 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser. Flynn left that night. About 1:30 a.m. the next day - a Friday - Brooks and a friend had a phone conversation about the greeting card job. Brooks said she would leave for San Diego soon.

Authorities said the last person to see Brooks was a neighbor who feeds Brooks' cat.
She said she saw Brooks about 5:30 p.m. that day with her car in the driveway. Then the car was gone.
Brooks' mother, who has Alzheimer's, did not tell her family that Brooks had not arrived in San Diego until Aug. 26.
Flynn had the impression that the California Highway Patrol and other agencies would conduct a search beyond the standard "be on the lookout" police radio broadcast of Brooks and her car.
He said he now realized that his mother is one of thousands of missing people. There were about 35,000 adults reported missing in California in 2011, according to the state Department of Justice.
"Now I'm kicking myself," Flynn said. He said he would have tried sooner to organize an air search - although police have said those searches are often futile. Flynn's older brother, Stirling Flynn, has been scouring turnouts and stores along Highway 101 for weeks. He spread the word to radio and TV outlets along the Central Coast.
Their sister, Sarah VanderBeets, also has driven with him and helped search Brooks' house.
Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark has called the case perplexing.
"There's no starting point other than her house," Clark said last week. "We all really want to find her alive. It's very frustrating."
Police have searched her house and found it in order and few clues. Police tried to track Brooks' cellphone's signal, but it has not been used since the day of her disappearance, Clark said.
Go here to read the rest of this story.