MIDDLESBORO — On the heels of the possible murder of a 70-year-old man that had search crews combing the banks of the Cumberland River all weekend — to no avail— another Bell County resident is reported missing.

Search crews along with concerned family and community members searched the woods near the community of Noetown in Middlesboro on Sunday evening for Katherine Sarah Heck, who was reported missing Sunday morning.

Family members insist that there must be something wrong, as it is unlike 58-year-old Heck to leave home without informing anyone of her whereabouts.

“She went missing from her house around 9:45 [Sunday] morning,” Heck’s sister-in-law, Charlene Heck said. “There has to be something wrong, it’s just not like her to leave without saying anything to her family.”

Charlene Heck said that her sister-in-law had been slightly confused and disoriented in the days prior to this incident. “I’m afraid that she’s had a stroke, we just don’t know,” Heck said.

According to her family, Katherine Heck left her home on Upper Gibson Lane shortly before 10 a.m. Sunday. Charlene Heck said that Katherine was last seen falling down a hill near 46th Street in Middlesboro.

Search crews combed the area Sunday night for Heck.

Heck is five feet, one inches tall; weighs around 170 pounds; has light blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a blue-green tee shirt, jeans and white tennis shoes.

Anyone with any information about Katherine Heck’s whereabouts is urged to contact the Middlesboro Police Department at (606)248-3636.

Brandy Calvert is the managing editor of the Middlesboro Daily News. Contact her via e-mail at editor@middlesborodailynews.com.