Two women searched in vain along the Hudson River on Monday night for the friend they were supposed to meet for dinner.
"I know she was planning on it," Eve Bankert said. "She was excited about it, so this is just really unexpected and devastating."
The investigation into the disappearance of 59-year-old Patrice Zimmerman has yielded clues that just aren't adding up. Police found blood in her Colonie home consistent with a fall down the stairs, and she left her phone and wallet at home, and drove to a place where her family went kayaking.
Jim Hickey went through his surveillance tape from the eight cameras around his house and says he saw her car parking on Front Street in Waterford early Monday morning around 5 a.m.
"We could see the vehicle coming down the street and going over there," he said, "and they pulled down, pulled up and parked right there, and that's the last of it. They turned the headlights out and we didn't see anybody coming out ... because it was dark at that point."
Colonie Police Lt. Bob Winn says there are no signs of forced entry into her home on Sutherland Drive, and he believes Zimmerman has some kind of head injury.
"And we really think she needs medical attention," Winn said.
Her friends who searched the area say there's no way she would take her own life. She had just come back to Colonie from her winter home in Florida to celebrate Christmas with her grandchildren.
"I hope that everybody is vigilant and keeping their ears and eyes open for anything that might help her turn up," Bankert said.