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Disappearance of Walmart worker, 79, called suspicious

By Lyda Longa
STAFF WRITER

Published: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 7:24 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 7:24 a.m.

A 79-year-old Ormond Beach Walmart employee known for helping shoppers find their vitamins, toothpaste and cosmetics vanished from her apartment late Monday night, sheriff's officials said.

When Rose Bruce's daughter-in-law arrived at the apartment she shares with the elderly woman, she knew something was amiss.

It was after 11 p.m. and the front door was unlocked and dinner was burning in the oven, both unusual occurrences for the septuagenarian described as careful, clear-headed and healthy. Bruce's car was gone, as well.

Now she may be in danger, Volusia County sheriff's officials said, because her disappearance is suspicious.

Monday night when Bruce's shift ended at the store at 10, she drove home to the nearby San Marco Apartments off Williamson Boulevard. According to a deputy's report, Bruce was supposed to return to the store at 11 p.m. to pick up Cathy Ryan, also a Walmart employee.

Before that however, Bruce put dinner in the oven — hamburgers and french fries, the report shows.

When 11 p.m. rolled around, Bruce was not outside the Walmart Supercenter at 1521 W. Granada Blvd., to pick up Ryan, deputies said. At that point, Ryan called her mother-in-law on her cellphone, but was greeted only by voicemail, deputies said.

Ryan decided to walk home and when she arrived at the pair's apartment, the door was unlocked and the residence was filled with smoke, the report shows. Ryan said Bruce would never leave the door unlocked.