Brookhaven police are still stymied at the disappearance of alocal woman who went missing in February.

Police Chief Pap Henderson said he’s working to make sure localmedia outlets are aware that the search is still ongoing forVirginia Ratliff, an 83-year-old Brookhaven woman who disappearedFeb. 28 from her home in Halbert Heights.

A $5,000 reward has been offered by the Brookhaven Exchange Cluband friends of the family for information leading to Ratliff’slocation.

Henderson said he hopes this will keep the public awareness up.He also said she will be featured on a CrimeStoppers segment on aJackson television station.

“It seems to be a reminder when her picture and her name are outthere in the media that we are still searching diligently for Mrs.Ratliff,” Henderson said. “It’s easy for people to assume we’velocated her, and the tips drop off. We need to continue to get helpfrom the public.”

Henderson said while there has not been any clear evidence offoul play in Ratliff’s disappearance, at this point anything ispossible.

“It’s open to think anything,” he said. “There’s no proof offoul play except that we can’t locate her or the car, so alloptions are open. We’re still hoping for the best, though.”

Henderson said authorities have widened the search area, andthat new avenues are being explored.

“We’ve got some things we’re looking into, and we’re going intosome other areas we wanted to check out,” he said. “There arethings we just need to be sure of.”

Henderson said, however, that the most important thing he canstress is that the search is still going on.

“We haven’t given up and we don’t plan to give up,” he said.