Search launched after missing Angier woman's vehicle found

Charlotte, N.C. — Charlotte police launched a ground and air search for a missing Harnett County woman after finding her vehicle Sunday in the Queen City's South End.

Workers reported seeing a state-owned 2007 Chevrolet Malibu in the parking lot of a Bojangles' restaurant, 300 West Blvd., just before 8 a.m.

That location is about seven blocks away from a strip mall where Sallie Rohrbach, 44, of 839 Chalybeate Springs, was last seen.

Police officers and fire crews began searching a four- to six-block area around the Bojangles'. A police helicopter was assisting with the search.

Her belongings were also found Sunday in her Charlotte hotel room. Her work and personal cell phone were turned off, police said.

Police would not say if they thought foul play might have been involved in Rohrbach's disappearance.

Eight armed law-enforcement investigators with the North Carolina Department of Insurance were to join the search and assist police. Rohrbach has worked for the department for eight years.

DOI investigators do not know if Rohrbach's disappearance had anything to do with an administrative complaint against a Charlotte insurance agency she was investigating.

Rohrbach had a scheduled appointment at the Dilworth Insurance Agency on Wednesday.

Such appointments were part of regular duties as an agency examiner, department spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said. If the complaint had been criminal in nature, armed DOI investigators would have been sent.

"Our fervent hope is that Sallie is found safe and sound," spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson wrote in a statement for the insurance department. "Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family."

The statement said "Insurance Commissioner Jim Long and the Department of Insurance remain very concerned for Sally's safety."

Police said Rohrbach was last seen at Dilworth Agency, in the strip mall at 1427 South Blvd., on Wednesday. Rohrbach's supervisor called police after she did not show up for work on Thursday.

"We are hoping and praying that everything is going to turn out OK,” neighbor Jean Smith said.

Rohrbach is described as 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds. She has blond hair and brown eyes. Her Malibu's North Carolina license plate number is PK5134.

Anyone who sees Rohrbach was asked to call the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department at 704-336-2311 or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.