A Volusia County animal control officer missing for several days was found July 29, lying on the side of Airport Road near Pioneer Trail, after she'd been missing for several days.
Port Orange Police had classified Toni Contarino, 43, as “endangered” after she disappeared, because she wrote a goodbye letter to her girlfriend and deleted all of her friends from her Facebook account before she went missing. Police said her mother, who reported her missing, said Contarino had been “depressed” because of domestic issues with her partner and had attempted to harm herself in the past.
A person driving by spotted her on the side of the road. Police said she was dehydrated and covered with bug bites.
Contarino disappeared on July 26 after she went to work, came home, then went to a friend's house where police said she may have found 30 Ambien tablets. She had been last seen leaving her house on her bicycle and left her wallet, cell phone and purse at home.
Contarino was taken to Halifax Medical Center and police said she is expected to recover fully. It's the second time in just over a month that Contarino went missing”in June she was found unresponsive in the woods near her house.
A K-9 patrol dog also went missing during the search for Contarino, but the dog has been found, too.
