EAST ELMHURST — Police and loved ones are searching for an Astoria woman who went missing after leaving her job at LaGuardia Airport last week, according to the NYPD.
Sierra Shields, 30, was last seen at noon Thursday leaving the airport, where she works as a flight attendant, police and family said. They became alarmed when she didn't return to her apartment, and because she'd seemed upset in the days before she went missing, according to her father.
"I could tell that she wasn't quite her usual chipper self," Chris Shields said, saying he spoke to his daughter Thursday morning. "She's always been a joy to be around."
Larry Mayberry, Shield's pastor at Connection Church in Astoria, said she was seen in her company break room on Thursday, where her work supervisor asked her if everything was alright.
"She just seemed different," he said. "Nobody could really put a finger on it."
Shields left some of her personal work items on her supervisor's desk before leaving the airport, according to friends and family. She was wearing a navy dress.
"We're still just trying to determine where she went when she left the airport," said her father, who drove to New York from his home outside Chicago on Friday to assist in the search.
A Facebook page called "Find Sierra Shields" has been set up to share information, and people are using the hashtags "#FindSierraNYC" and "#OurSweetSierra" to help spread the word. Church members have also posted thousands of fliers around her neighborhood, Mayberry said.
Shields is originally from the Chicago area and moved to New York about six years ago, her father said.
"She has loved this city," he said. "She was always very positive about the nature of New York."
Police say Shields is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.
