Missing 71-Year-Old Woman Found Dead in La Mesa, Family Speaks Out. Cellphone footage demonstrates Vivian Crowder’s love of dancing through life and her role as her family’s lifeblood.
“Togetherness,” Jonita Pierce, her cousin, said. “She basically made everyone happy and brought them all together. She was simply a loving individual. She would make you feel your finest.
Finding Crowder’s remains almost a month after her disappearance is bittersweet, according to her family.
“I never really expected to not have her, so it’s not really peace, but it’s closure, but it’s not a peaceful closure,” Pierce stated.
On October 29, Crowder was at a hairdresser in downtown La Mesa with a young relative when her family claims she left.
A nearby company’s surveillance footage captured her straying. Even police were contacted by someone who claimed to have seen her moving toward the expressway.
The family now hopes that their month-long experience may save others with dementia from going through what they did.
“Make sure you keep that person close, that you guys communicate with that person,” said Pamella Crowder-Mc Allister.
“You need to keep an eye on them, and don’t be scared to ask for help,” Pierce advised.
The family expressed gratitude to search teams and police as the medical examiner attempts to ascertain the cause of death for the 71-year-old.
“It was really wonderful that, you know, that people care, who don’t even know her come out and help us,” said Crowder-Mc Allister.
The family claims that even though Crowder is no longer with them, she will continue to dance in their hearts and thoughts. Funeral arrangements are still being worked out, they say.
