UPDATE: Missing Miller Place Woman Found

This article was written and reported by Joseph Pinciaro.

Update, 9 p.m.: Suffolk County Police said Patricia Woods was found Friday night by Seventh Precinct police. No further details were immediately available.

Original story: A Miller Place woman has been missing since Wednesday afternoon, and family say she could be in the area – though since Patricia Woods has not lived on Long Island for over 30 years, the family is grasping for straws wondering where she is.

The 53-year-old was last seen Wednesday afternoon by her mother, Lil Kos, when Woods told her she was going to Rite Aid to pick up a prescription. She never made it there, and Kos called police right away.

"She was gone for 45 minutes, and I kind of said 'This is too long,'" Kos said Friday afternoon. Kos called one of her sons who happened to be in the same shopping plaza. He went in and asked if Woods had picked up her medication. Nobody had seen her.

Woods, her mother said, is 5-foot-7, about 140 pounds, and was driving her 2002 silver Ford Taurus (license plate: AKZ-7974) when she last saw her. She was wearing a black shirt, tan pants, flip flops with a flower on them, and necklace with a cross and heart-shaped pendant.

She said her daughter has had a history of mental illness and doesn't know the area very well. She most recently lived in Florida, though Kos said recently went through a divorce and moved back up to be with family.

"We thought it would be safer and better for her to come home where her family is," Kos said. "But she doesn't know too many people. That's why we're waiting very patiently, hoping either police of someone else finds her."

Suffolk County police said the case remains under investigation, though could not immediately offer many more details. 

Kos said that Woods has an aunt who lives in Jamesport, and her father – Kos' late husband – is buried at Calverton National Cemetery. A Suffolk Times article notes that Woods' father grew up in Cutchogue, and cell phone tracing had reportedly linked her back to Miller Place high school at one point in the past couple of days.

The family has hit the streets in the Miller Place area, offering flyers to any business who will take one – or even people in cars – in the hopes that someone spots the woman.

"She's going through a tough time," Kos said. "She feels that everything happened is her fault. It's not."

Anyone who may have seen Miller is urged call 911 and 744-5225.