Missing Eureka woman found dead on Foothills Road

A Eureka woman missing for five days turned up dead April 11, say officials with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities began looking for Darcy Nelson, 62, two days after she left her home on April 4. Her friends were concerned about her health, officials said in a release.

While local authorities issued an “attempt to locate” among law enforcement agencies across the state, they could not find Nelson, officials said.

On April 11, her friends received word that Nelson had been seen in the vicinity of Foothills Road, several miles outside of Eureka. They found her lying on the road, hypothermic and unresponsive, according to officials.

Loading her into a vehicle, Nelson’s friends raced to meet up with emergency medical services en route to the scene. Nelson was pronounced dead after a Eureka ambulance crew linked up with her friends at Grave Creek Road.

A Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office detective and several deputies also responded to the scene.

Sheriff Darren Short and Undersheriff Brad Dodson said investigators found no signs of foul play: There were no obvious signs of trauma on the body, for example, no weapons found at the scene and no missing personal effects as might be the case in a robbery.

Still, Nelson’s death remains under investigation, Short said. Authorities have not yet compiled a timeline leading up to the discovery of her body, but officials said they have credible reports that Nelson was seen alive the day before she died.