Cloudia Leslie Wells, missing from San Diego since 1998, has been sighted with the homeless community in or around the Santa Monica area.
Robin Wells Burton, Cloudia's daughter, has come to the area to search for her mother following a recent tip and recorded use of her mother's Social Security number.
The family has organized a search on Saturday, Feb. 28, in Santa Monica at the Santa Monica Pier at 3 p.m. Searchers are asked to gather at the entrance to the Pier on Ocean Avenue at 2:30 p.m. to receive photographs and fliers.
The family is asking for help from the local community to assist in distribution of Wells' picture and in the search itself. Wells is in need of medical attention as she may have a hard time walking and was seen in a wheelchair.
Burton said her mother disappeared from Illinois in 1995 and was off the radar for almost two decades. She said a team of private investigators found a record of Wells' Social Security number at a local shelter but the shelter had no record of her as a client. She also found an image of her mother.
"I work as a bartender and a customer went home and Googled 'homeless people in California,'" she said. "He found an article the Los Angeles Times did on the homeless count and it had one photo, down by the pier and it was my mom."
Burton said the photo was taken in January of 2013.
"Two years later, that photo made it to me," she said.
Directly after search there will be a candlelight vigil in honor of Wells at dusk, approximately 5:45 p.m.
The family has a Go Fund Me account to help cover the costs of the search and donations can be made at www.gofundme.com/jcdea4. To get involved, or for more information, contact Burton at (618) 550-1005. The family also has a Facebook page with photos of Cloudia at www.facebook.com/events/423316854497938.
