March 20 marks one month since Nampa mom disappeared

_{By Elizabeth Laden}

BOISE, ID. — Saturday, March 20, marks one month since a Nampa woman vanished from Boise without a trace, and this week her family began working with an organization that helps families of missing people.

The Heather D. Davidson family is consulting with Project Jason, an Omaha-NE. - based nonprofit, to organize a large-scale postering event they hope will put Heather’s image before as many people as possible, along with information about when she went missing and whom to contact if you know anything about her case. They are also considering a ground search that would begin at the corner of Broadway and Park in Boise, the last place anyone saw Heather.

Kelly Jolkowski founded Project Jason in 2003 after her son, Jason, then 19, went missing without a trace from their home’s driveway. It is not a search organization, nor does it do investigations. The organization focuses on offering support to families of the missing. They share knowledge about DNA, databases and related matters, case management, media interaction, and more. Project Jason is a member of AMECO, the Association of Missing and Exploited Children’s Organizations, Inc., which ensures the member organizations are credible and ethical.

Davidson, 29, was last seen by family members when she left her home around 4 a. m. on Saturday Feb. 20, and not long after that, a witness said he saw her fleeing the scene of an accident in Boise.

Lynn Hightower, the Boise Police Department’s Communications Director said Davidson was driving a 1997 GMC van, and was in an accident with a Ford Escort driven by an adult woman. Davidson, she said, apparently ran a red light and struck the woman's vehicle. The woman was injured and transported to a hospital. Hightower said the injuries were not life threatening. She said no warrants have been issued for Davidson’s arrest. Family members say insurance companies have settled the accident.

Davidson's brother, Chris Burrup, created a Facebook page, HelpFindHeather, to publicize that she is missing. As of March 19, it had 625 members.

Heather left her husband, Bill “Fish” Davidson and their four children, ages two to 10, at home when she drove to Boise. Burrup said he does not know why Heather left home. She is a stay-at-home mom who home-schools the children, he said, and so would not have been going to work.

Boise police have impounded the vehicle and its contents.

Family members say it is out of character for Heather to stay away from her children and not keep in touch with family members.

The family has distributed posters with Davidson’s photo all over Idaho, in Utah, and in Oregon from Albany to Portland. So far, no concrete leads have turned up.

Heather was born on April 7, 1980. She has brown hair and hazel eyes, is 5 ft. 8 and weighs 145 pounds. She may have been wearing a long black coat, red shirt, and jeans when she went missing. She has tattoos on her left finger and abdomen. Heather may be using the last names, "Ashley" or "Burrup." Burrup is her maiden name, and Ashley is her previous married name. Therefore, she may be going by Heather Burrup or Heather Ashley. If you’ve seen her, please call the Boise police, 208.377.6790, or send an e-mail to helpfindheather@gmail.com.

In a phone interview, Jolkowski told the News that many people do not realize that families have to play a strong role when a member goes missing, since law enforcement and search and rescue organizations do not automatically conduct searches. The family must often find a search organization to agree to the search, and that organization has to coordinate its efforts with local law enforcement. The family also plays a key role in creating and distributing posters that contain the missing person’s image, and in using all forms of media to get the information to as many places as possible

Please join the Facebook page here. It contains a printable ‘missing persons” poster and many photos of Heather.

Project Jason’s Heather Davidson page:

http://projectjason.org/forums/index.php?topic=8389

ISP Missing Persons Poster
www.isp.idaho.gov/mp_viewer/showMissingPerson.action?id=M378695929

Project Jason Information:
http://www.projectjason.org

This is part of the online edition of Henry's Fork Country.

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