AMERICAN FORK, Utah -- The search continued Sunday for a Utah County woman who has been missing since February.
A group of volunteers says they won't stop searching for 25-year-old Jerika Binks. They met at the foot of American Fork Canyon for one last effort before the snow falls.
"I just think it’s really important that the public doesn’t forget. That we don’t stop looking, no matter what," said volunteer and search organizer Johnny-Mack Barlow.
"I had lost my daughter one time in an overnight search in California, and I just want to pay back," said volunteer Duane Jensen, "and I know how the family feels."
Jerika went missing in February after going for a run and never coming back. Since then, there have been a number of searches, but no physical evidence has turned up, except for several images. They were captured by a wildlife camera on the National Timpanogos Cave Trail the day of her disappearance.
"We’re focused on looking today where people haven’t looked yet," Barlow said, "as far as some of the more difficult terrains up in the cliff areas."
Volunteers say open paths have already been scoured by thousands of people, and now they’re looking at things like cougar tracks to guide them in their continued search.
"All it would take is for you to twist your ankle," said Barlow, "and they smell your fear, and that’s it."
The group says even if this search doesn't determine where Jerika is, at least they can bring her friends and family some type of closure by determining where she isn't.
"It becomes really overwhelming when it's such a huge country and you can only search one small area at a time," Barlow said, "but that’s what we’re doing."
If you are interested in volunteering on a search for Jerika Binks, you find more information here.
