‘I have to get her back’: Missing Colorado Springs woman’s daughter pleads to public

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - Bernice Moorehead has been missing since Oct. 17, 2024. Her daughter, Joanna Phillips, is pleading with the public, urging them to look for her mother.

Moorehead was last seen near her home on Chadwick Drive, near South Academy Boulevard. Since then her daughter has heard tidbits from people that she may be either in the Security-Widefield area or in Fountain. She says the latest update was someone saying they may have spotted her near Mesa Ridge High School. Overall, Phillips believes her mother is somewhere in the El Paso County area, she says she wouldn't leave.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office (EPSO) says there have been no updates in the case.

Moorehead has dementia, according to her daughter, and is considered at risk. Phillips says that being without her mother feels like she's missing her other half. She says she can feel her presence and has hope that they will find her with the community's help. 

"Now it's getting critical," said Phillips, "She's been gone a long time."

Phillips remembers the day her mom disappeared, she was planning on them moving in together. 

"I said, look, you'll be living with me in this house. Then she talked about how pretty it was. She said, Oh, for real? I said, this is the house I want. I said, we're working very hard to get it. I said, so you won't have to be by yourself. You wouldn't be alone, as you'll see us every day," recounted Phillips.

After Phillips left, she didn't see her mom again. 

The moment she realized she was missing, they alerted the authorities, and Phillips took off, tracing what she thought would be her mother's steps. She said her mom would tend to walk off places on occasion and that they knew her typical spots. She took her normal path and walked to the nearby Walmart, but no one had seen her. Her husband came, and they drove around her mother's neighborhood and all the other neighborhoods close by.

"We drove around some more on my mom's side of the street and realized that we couldn't find her," explained Phillips.

Phillips continued searching for days. She put out posters of her mother and went to the stores they would go to together. Phillips asked employees if they had seen her, but turned up with no luck. She continued searching as days turned into weeks and then into months.

"She had her favorite brown coat on, and I said, if she doesn't have that brown coat, she probably has given it away. And I said, I know that she had some money on her. And I said, I know that she had some money on her. Again, she's the kind of person that, if you need something, she's going to give it to you. Even if she doesn't have anything. And that's what makes me think that she's somewhere nearby. I'm thinking maybe someone didn't realize she was missing," shared Phillips.

She says someone suggested the idea that a retirement home may have taken her in off the streets, and is hoping this sparks a lead in the case. Regardless, Phillips plans to continue searching tirelessly to be back by her side. 

"I just know that I want her back. I'm willing to do whatever I have to do to get her back. I just need to know if she's ok," said Phillips.

If you have any information about Bernice's whereabouts, you are urged to call EPSO. They can be reached at 719-390-5555.

You can find more information from the Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI) here.

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