DELTONA, Fla. — Law enforcement officers continued to drain a pond Tuesday as they looked for clues connected to a missing woman case.
The case stems out of Mount Dora, but the pond is in Deltona.
As neighbors watched the pond being searched, Bessie Pender said, “There’s a couple of different ponds that are back here.“
Investigators drained a pond off Debary Avenue. The rain made it more challenging to search, and the pond was deeper than expected.
Neighbors say crews have been at it for weeks.
“So I was like, if they did that one, hopefully they know about the one behind our house,” Pender said.
It’s not the first time Mount Dora police have conducted searches in connection with missing mother Nicole Baldwin. Dive teams have been periodically searching since she went missing in 2023.
At that time, her daughter Alisha spoke out, saying, “This is a strange thing for her to just up and disappear like this with no trace.”
“We usually dread searching any water north of Palm Beach County,” said Michael Sullivan, the operator of Sunshine State Sonar.
Sullivan is not a part of this case but says it’s better that crews are draining the pond.
“It’s like swimming in mud. Everything is by feel. You can’t see a thing in there,” he said.
Investigators previously said they do not believe Baldwin left on her own and are investigating this case as a homicide. She’s 5 feet, 5 inches tall and around 135 pounds with brown or blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink nightgown.
Neighbors say they hope she’s OK.
“Scary. I’ve been here for five years and there’s really nothing over here like that,” said resident Jamie Zapata.
“So its kind of scary that somebody missing may have been here,” Pender said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crimeline at 800-423-8477. There’s a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
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