Leads renew search for missing Schenectady woman

Lutrica â€œTrishâ€ Steele was 27 when she disappeared May 1, 2008.

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City police are hoping to build on recent leads received in the 2008 disappearance of a Schenectady woman.

Police again asked Wednesday for anyone with information about the disappearance of Lutrica “Trish” Steele, no matter how insignificant they think that information might be, to contact detectives.

“Someone may know something, it might be a very, very minor detail to them,” police spokesman Lt. Mark McCracken said, “but it might be the little detail that helps us put this together and locate her.”

Steele, who was 27 when she disappeared, was last seen May 1, 2008, when she told her mother on Webster Street in Mont Pleasant she’d be back for her children and for a barbecue later that day. The mother of four never returned.

Contacted Wednesday, Andrea Wakefield said she is hopeful police will find out what happened to her sister.

She praised the work of the detective on the case, Eric Hesch. She said he called her Wednesday morning to let her know, without giving details, that police had received the new leads and that they were going to again ask the public for help.

Police are still officially investigating the case as a missing person, McCracken said. With more than four years gone without hearing from her sister, though, Wakefield said she is not optimistic about the outcome.

“We would like some answers,” she said. “I don’t think they will find her alive, but we would like some closure.”

Steele, also known as Lutrica Zasa, Lutrica Zasa-Steele and “TiTi,” is described as a white woman, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 125 pounds, with light brown hair and blue eyes. She had a tattoo of a tiger on her left ankle, a tattoo with the name “Shawn” on her left arm and a tattoo with the name “Kasin” on her chest.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the department’s TIPS Line at 788-6566 or the Detective Division at 382-5245.