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Family Worried Missing Woman Suicidal

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 9, 2008

TAMPA -- Deanne Martin grabbed her purse and told her family she would be right back.

She left their Wesley Chapel home about 10:25 p.m. on April 28.

Her family hasn't seen her since.

Martin's family thinks she might have contemplated suicide and hopes that she can be found before anything happens to her, said her sister, Jan Ayers. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office is working the case as a missing person investigation.

"It's totally out of character for her to just get up and go for a long time and not tell anybody," Ayers said today.

Martin, 40, lives with Ayers on Woodsman Drive in Wesley Chapel.

Martin is roughly 5-foot-6, weighs about 110 pounds and has a prosthetic lower left leg, Ayers said. She has a 21-year-old daughter and two sons, ages 20 and 14.

She also has a 3-year-old granddaughter.

Martin previously has attempted suicide, Ayers said.

"We have been doing all we can," Ayers wrote in an e-mail to the Tribune. "We just need someone to help find her. We are a very close family and we all miss her desperately. Her just disappearing like this has NEVER happened before."

Deputies don't suspect foul play or that anything suspicious happened to Martin, sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said today. Doll said Martin's family hasn't seen her since she had an argument with her girlfriend.

Deputies inspected Martin's bedroom for any indication of her whereabouts, and they found two handwritten letters, an incident report states. One of the letters spoke of Martin's troubled relationship with her girlfriend.

"Also, on the same letter, on the reverse side, the writer (presumably, Deanne) wrote several lines which could be perceived as goodbyes," the report states. "Each line was addressed to a significant person in Deanne's life. Some of the lines on the back made the family members feel as though Deanne was possibly contemplating suicide; the line written to Deanne's oldest son, Sean, said "everything happens for a reason", the line to her youngest son, Dalton, said "I love you so much", and the line to Dalton's father, Albert, said "I'm selfish, take care of him."

People who know details of Martin's whereabouts can call Detective Allen Proctor at (800) 854-2862.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpotlilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.

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