On Saturday, Kambuga wasn't the only one with that wish. Family friends, ex-co-workers and even strangers moved by the family's pleas turned out for a search party for Kaboga-Miller, organized by her family .

"It's very, very hard," Kambuga said of the disappearance of her younger sister, with whom she grew up in Kenya. "I can't sleep."

Tears streamed down her face. Her sister, Wamaitha Kaboga-Miller, 66, of Palo Alto, vanished without a trace on Aug. 17 after stopping by the Country Time Market in East Palo Alto, kitty corner to the sidewalk where Kambuga was holding vigil.

As cars rumbled by, Catherine Kambuga sat in a chair on the University Avenue sidewalk in East Palo Alto Saturday morning and held a poster of her missing sister, hoping it would help.

Volunteers wait in line to register to help aid with search efforts for Wamaitha Kaboga-Miller, who has been missing since Friday, Aug. 17, outside the East Palo Alto Senior Center. Kaboga-Miller's family and friends organized the search party on Aug. 25. Photo by Veronica Weber.

Njoroge Kaboga-Miller and wife Sophia Kaboga-Miller register volunteers who wanted to help aid the search for Njoroge's mother Wamaitha Kaboga-Miller who was last seen on Friday, Aug. 17, 2018, outside the East Palo Alto Senior Center on Aug. 25, 2018. Photo by Veronica Weber.

A volunteer with the search party for Wamaitha Kaboga-Miller hands out "missing" flyers to cars driving on Clarke Avenue in East Palo Alto on Aug. 25, 2018. Photo by Veronica Weber.

From left, search party volunteers Jason Miles, Kevin Montgomery, Danielle Montgomery and Gary Lapari, stop and talk to each other about the search for Wamaitha Kaboga-Miller, as they explored the Palo Alto Baylands for any signs of Kaboga-Miller or her silver Mercedes-Benz. Kaboga-Miller was last seen in East Palo Alto on Aug. 17, 2018. Photo by Veronica Weber.

Kevin Montgomery scans the surroundings of the Palo Alto Baylands as he and wife, Danielle Montgomery, help in the search efforts for Wamaitha Kaboga-Miller, who was last seen on Aug. 17, 2018. Photo by Veronica Weber.

Jennifer Landesman, a neighbor of Wamaitha Kaboga-Miller, shows Isidro Torres a missing flyer for the woman as she canvassed neighborhoods in East Palo Alto stopping to talk to residents about the search efforts for Kaboga-Miller, who was last seen in East Palo Alto on Aug. 17, 2018. Photo by Veronica Weber.

From left, Alex Dembow, Joey Page, Christina Draeger, and Emily Brunner post missing person posters for Wamaitha Kaboga-Miller as they help in the search effort with other volunteers in East Palo Alto. All four women went to high school with Wamaitha's younger son, Clovis Kaboga-Miller and wanted to help out with the search on Aug. 25, 2018. Photo by Veronica Weber.

David Kimani, far right, a friend of the Kaboga-Miller family, looks through a map of East Palo Alto and the Baylands as fellow volunteers gather outside the East Palo Alto Senior Center to help in the search efforts for Wamaitha Kaboga-Miller, who was last seen on Aug. 17, 2018. Photo by Veronica Weber.

Catherine Kambuga, left, and Wamboi Lipari, center, both sisters of Wamaitha Kaboga-Miller, and Rosemary Kainange, right, a friend of the family, wave the missing person posters of Wamaitha to passing traffic on University Avenue as a search party for Kaboga-Miller gets underway in East Palo Alto on Aug. 25, 2018. Photo by Veronica Weber.

In the neighborhood, volunteers fanned out, walking past the old Open Bible Baptist Church, over to the new neighborhood of townhomes and by the stalwart nonprofit Ecumenical Hunger Program.

Dozens of volunteers Saturday were sent to canvass the blocks immediately adjacent to the Country Time Market as well as to the Palo Alto Baylands. In addition to posting and handing out flyers, searchers were instructed to look in all parking lots and also for signs of a car driving off the road, such as tire tracks and broken branches.

According to the missing woman's older son, Njoroge Kaboga-Miller, the family consulted with a private investigator to strategize the daylong search for his mother and her car, a silver 2002 Mercedes-Benz CLK coupe with license plate DP241LU. It was last seen exiting the Country Time Market and driving east on University.

"They asked for help," Kristen Snyder said simply, when asked why they were volunteering their time.

Palo Alto residents Kristen and Kat Snyder, who live in the same neighborhood as Kaboga-Miller but do not know her, heard about the search effort through an email list.

DeLuca agreed. "You think you're going to be gone five minutes," she said. "It could be any one of us."

"Everyone's mystified," Bishop said, adding that she could identify with Kaboga-Miller, who stopped by the market on a quick errand wearing her pajamas and a black puffy vest.

Residents they talked to are concerned, they said, but no one has heard or seen anything.

Sondra Bishop and Catherine DeLuca of Menlo Park were among those handing out flyers and peering down long driveways in search of the car.

Anyone with information about Kaboga-Miller's disappearance is asked to contact the Palo Alto Police Department at 650-329-2413 or the family at 650-814-1189, or to email [email protected] Anonymous tips can be emailed to the police at [email protected] or sent by text message or voicemail to 650-383-8984.

"She likes to help people. If she wasn't missing, she'd be looking out for other people who were missing."

Helping others is part of their family culture, and his mother is a prime example of that, he noted.

"It's shocking; I'm speechless," he said, as late-arriving volunteers stood in line awaiting their assignments. "It's good to know people really care."

Njoroge Kaboga-Miller said the family was grateful for the outpouring of help Saturday, noting that people said they came from southern California and Phoenix to join in the search.

"It's not like her," Lipari said. "If she traveled, she kept in touch."

Going off on her own is uncharacteristic, said her eldest sister, Wamboi Lipari, who on Saturday also waved a "missing" poster as cars drove past on University.

The Palo Alto Police Department is the lead agency in the search for Kaboga-Miller. On Saturday, her younger son, Clovis Kaboga-Miller, said that a sergeant and two other officers were searching Bayfront Expressway from East Palo Alto to Redwood City for signs of his mother or her car. The Menlo Park Fire Department used a drone team on Friday to look for her, her son said.

"She is a great lady," said a co-worker who declined to give his name. "We're just trying to find her or find some clue."

Although it has been years since they were all colleagues at Epigram, a startup where Kaboga-Miller worked in procurement, they recalled her sociable and happy nature.

But nothing seemed to relate to Kaboga-Miller, said one man. Others wondered aloud if enough surveillance videos in the area have been reviewed to track her movements on Aug. 17.

In scouring the scrub brush and grasses lining the marshland, a group of Kaboga-Miller's former co-workers found small miscellaneous items, including clothing. As instructed, they called in their observations to the search organizers.

Friends, strangers join search for missing Palo Alto woman

Disappearance of 66-year-old on Aug. 17 concerns and baffles locals