WINONA, Minn. — As law enforcement, friends and family search to bring Madeline Kingsbury home, the Winona Police Department and Winona Emergency Manager are asking property owners in Winona and Fillmore counties to report old wells, homesteads, windmills or sinkholes on their property.
Kingsbury, 26, is a mother of two children, a University of Minnesota graduate student and a Mayo Clinic employee. She was last seen at her Winona home on March 31.
Property owners in Winona and Fillmore counties are requested to report old wells from before 1925, old homesteads, old windmills or windmill bases, and sinkholes that are accessible by car, according to a statement from the police department. The information could help lead to new searches as the areas are not included in available records. Property owners can send the information to search@co.winona.mn.us.
Property owners can also add blue checkmarks in an easily visible location on their property if they are willing to have their property searched. A blue ribbon would be added after the property is searched to signal to volunteers not to double-search a property.
"Volunteers are ONLY looking for Madeline and/or signs of possible disturbances/anything out of the ordinary that could potentially lead to locating Maddi," according to a Facebook post in the group Finding Madeline Kingsbury.
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Teams have searched on foot, in the water and in helicopters, with sonar, submersibles and dog teams. Family and friends also plan searches throughout the area through the Facebook page. The group reminds people never to search alone, to stay off private property, to stay safe and hydrated, and to not search in dangerous areas or the water.
Law enforcement and first responder teams are continuing daily searches based on information from the active investigation and tips from the public. If you would like to share information that is helpful, people can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or submit tips online at crimestoppersmn.org. A $50,000 reward has also been offered by the family for information that leads to finding Kingsbury.
"We are still diligently searching for Maddi and will continue to do so until we bring her home, but in the meantime, we wanted to give a GINORMOUS thank you to all of the businesses who have donated supplies, printed fliers for us, supplied food/drinks, provided space, and otherwise helped out in our search efforts in any way," the Finding Madeline Kingsbury group wrote in a Facebook post on Monday. "We appreciate all of you SO, so much. Your generosity and willingness to help means the world to her family and friends, and Maddi would be so incredibly appreciative for all of the love and support.
"We also want to give a massive thank you to Minnesota United for all the organizational help as well as the law enforcement of Winona, Filmore, and Houston counties for all of your hard work throughout this extremely difficult process.
"To everyone who has come out to help us search in person, THANK YOU from the bottom of all of our hearts. Thank you for taking time out of your busy days and trekking through the inclement weather. On behalf of Maddi’s family and friends, we appreciate every single one of you so very much."
The group is also planning a group search at the Whispering Hills Girl Scout Camp in Houston, Minnesota, at 10 a.m. on Saturday. For more information on joining the search, visit the Finding Madeline Kingsbury Facebook page.
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