It has been two weeks since Sheila Santos was last seen.
Fourteen days without a word.
Santos went missing when the Camp Fire tore through the mobile home park where she lived in Paradise, California.
RELATED: Camp Fire in California continues to grow; more than 11,000 homes destroyed
“It’s an emotional rollercoaster, I just keep hoping for the best,” said her daughter, Tammie Konicki.
Konicki, who lives in Independence, drove 56 hours from Northeast Ohio to Northern California to help search for her family among the hundreds that are missing.
She is thankful that 15 of her family members were found alive and well — aunts, uncles, cousins, even her twin sister.
She is also thankful for the generosity of complete strangers, including the ones who are letting her and seven members of her family stay in their 28-foot-trailer free of charge.
“They’re taking us to Thanksgiving tonight, they loaded the trailer with food before we got there,” Konicki said. “And they told us we could stay as long as we need to.”
Konicki spends her days driving from shelter to shelter, hospital to hospital, searching for her missing mother. Investigators took DNA from her and said they have a tentative identification on a body that might be her mothers, Konicki said.
But she is not giving up hope.
“Because if it was me on the other end, she wouldn’t give up hope,” Konicki said. “She wouldn’t quit trying until every avenue was exhausted. That’s what we’re going to do.”
Family members created aGoFundMe account to help with the search and shelter.
The Camp Fire is the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California state history, claiming more than 80 lives with more than 560 people still missing as of Thanksgiving morning.
