Authorities on Friday reiterated an emotional, public plea for information in a missing persons case the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Manitou Springs Police Department now say may have involved foul play. 

Margaret Woolsey, 57, dropped off the map in the early days of August 2025, but wasn’t reported missing until Sept. 23. 

According to the original missing persons report, friends and family who spoke with police then said it was unusual for Woolsey to be out of touch for such an extended period of time, especially without seeing to the care of her beloved dog, Aja, said the CBI’s Rob Low.

“She would never leave her dog behind,” said Low, who declined to elaborate on any additional factors, other than time and dog, underlying the recent escalation of the case from missing person to criminal investigation.

Almost six months after “last known contact,” Woolsey’s sister, April Rossetti — now the interim caretaker for Aja — also is lending her voice to continued efforts to identify someone who might offer clues into what happened to the Hispanic female investigators say was known to spend time along the stretch of Platte Avenue between Academy and Union boulevards in Colorado Springs. 

Woolsey is described as being 5-foot-10, with a thin build, brown hair and brown eyes. She may also be known as Margaret Mitchum. 

In a Friday phone interview with The Gazette, Rossetti alluded to addiction struggles her sister had faced in recent years that drastically shifted the course of her life, and altered her appearance. 

“I think that when the press originally released some pictures of my sister, there’s a very big contrast in the photos,” said Rossetti, referencing how the before-and-after images fed into narrow-minded dialogues by “people with already pre-made notions” about those struggling with addiction.

Rossetti described her sister as a “phenomenal artist” with a big heart and flair for eliciting both laughter and tears. 

Whatever her personal struggles, Rossetti said, Woolsey is “still human, a human being, a wonderful one at that, and she deserves for everybody to be looking for her.”

While the twists and turns of Woolsey’s life brought her in contact with not “necessarily the right people,” Rossetti said she hopes her plea — and that of investigators — will reach the eyes and ears of the “good people” with whom Woolsey also certainly crossed paths in her complicated journey.

“If there’s anybody out there that knows anything, that has heard anything secondhand, that has seen something that they may think is insignificant, please contact … the Manitou Police Department,” Rossetti said. “They’ve been working pretty tirelessly on this case, and we appreciate that.”

Those who may have interacted with, seen or been apprised of Woolsey’s whereabouts at any point since August 2025 are encouraged to contact Manitou Springs police Officer Amanda Strider, the lead detective on the case, at 719-685-2542.

Tips can be made anonymously.