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Cheryl Stedtler Laverty
“She just wants to be alone right now, ” her sister, Sue, wrote in a Facebook posting shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday. “Let’s hope she reaches out to family & friends sooner than later.”
Family members told police that Laverty, 43, recently of Paterson, was last seen over the weekend in Saddle Brook.
They began posting their own missing persons alerts on Facebook, Tumblr and other sites beginning Monday. Pretty soon, hundreds of concerned friends — and even strangers — began passing the word online, while sending words of hope and encouragement to the family.
It wasn’t until Wednesday that Saddle Brook police officially declared that details about Laverty and her white Oldsmobile 88 were entered into the National Missing Person network.
In a release to the media, police made a direct appeal to Laverty to “make contact with any appropriate law enforcement authority to verify her well-being.”
“I’m confident it’ll turn out out that she’s not harmed by foul play or is in any imminent danger,” Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert Kugler told CLIFFVIEW PILOT a short time later.
Although Kugler didn’t elaborate, circumstances clearly indicated that authorities believed she’d left on her own.
Yet the concern mounted, with social network users posting alerts and asking others to share. Several said they were worried about Laverty’s well-being — although none of them were family members.
Laverty’s sister-in-law initially called a sighting on Tuesday in Bayonne unconfirmed. But a source told CLIFFVIEW PILOT that the incident supported the view that she was all right.
It apparently wasn’t until Thursday night that Laverty let those looking for her know what was happening.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: At that point it became a family matter — and should remain so.)
Kugler was away on vacation and couldn’t be reached late Thursday.
“She will need some time alone now,” her sister-in-law, Cheryl Stedtler, said in a Facebook posting and email Thursday night. “We would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts and special thanks to the Saddle Brook Police Department. Thank you!!!! Cheryl, we love you and are so glad you are okay!”
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