Missing Union woman spotted getting on bus

WWL-TV, The Clarion-Ledger
Chanda Loree Smith

NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans police continue to search for a missing Mississippi woman who walked away from her Canal Street hotel early Sunday morning. 

The latest information by police shows 38-year-old Chanda Smith boarding a Greyhound bus to Baton Rouge the afternoon she disappeared.

"We are working with BRPD and LSP to obtain any surveillance video that may show she is in the Baton Rouge area or that she continued on to another city," police said. 

Meanwhile in Louisville, a prayer vigil for Smith's safe return was held Wednesday night on the steps of First Baptist Church.

NOPD said Smith is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has not been in contact with other family members visiting the city.

Family members said Smith was visiting New Orleans with her mother and two children for a school convention. Her brother Jonathon Stevens said the family is concerned for her safety, but that her previous mental history has never shown her to be a danger to herself or others. 

People gathered on the steps of First Baptist Church in Lousiville Wednesday night to pray for Chanda Smith's safe return.

Smith, of Union, Mississippi, walked out of the Sheraton Hotel about 1 a.m. Keyla Spankovich, a relative, said Smith is without her medication.

“She doesn’t have a cellphone with her, and there’s no activity on her debit card,” Spankovich said.

“We have no leads,” she added, describing the trail as “pretty cold.”

Police described Smith as a white woman with dark brown hair. She is 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighs 110 pounds and was last seen wearing an emerald green eyelet sundress with a white cardigan sweater.

Authorities asked anyone with information about Smith’s whereabouts to call detectives at (504) 658-6080.

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Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer Therese Apel contributed to this report.