Lexington police widened their search for Elena Katherine Moore on Wednesday, moving into the area around Lakeside Middle School and closing part of Old Cherokee Road as they looked for the missing 39-year-old Lexington woman.
The search started around 1:30 p.m. near Lakeside Middle School, and by 3:40 p.m. Old Cherokee Road was shut between North Lake Drive and Berkshire Drive with no traffic allowed through. For readers tracking the case, that made Wednesday the first clear sign that investigators had shifted from isolated checks to a coordinated sweep of a specific corridor.
Moore was last seen on June 11 and reported missing the next day. Police said she signed in at Planet Fitness at 560 Whiteford Way at 6:40 p.m., then was seen walking away from the gym toward the wooded area behind Lowe’s Home Improvement. She was wearing an olive green zip-up hoodie and black athletic pants, and investigators later released a photo appearing to show her at Planet Fitness.
Another piece of footage pushed the timeline farther along. Police said camera video from Publix at 100 Old Cherokee Road showed Moore walking through the parking lot at 9:17 p.m. on June 11 and heading toward Old Cherokee Road in the same hoodie and pants. That placed her movement closer to the road now at the center of the search.
Even so, police have said they do not suspect foul play and do not believe Moore is in imminent danger, which is why the scale of the response has stood out. A search behind Lowe’s Home Improvement earlier in the week found no trace of her, and investigators described that effort as a precise way to rule out one more place she could be, not a recovery operation. Police also believed she had a phone with her, but it was not pinging on Monday, leaving a basic question unanswered: whether the device was off, out of service, or simply beyond reach.
Missy Silcox said Moore’s husband was the one who reported her missing, and police have asked anyone with information to call the Lexington Police Department at 803-358-7271. The case now turns on whether the new search area near Lakeside Middle School yields the break that the earlier searches did not.
