Family offers $10,000 reward in search for missing woman

By Erin Dostal

Published Monday, May 17, 2010 | 9:34 a.m.

Updated Monday, May 17, 2010 | 12:24 p.m.

A $10,000 reward is being given to anyone with information leading to the whereabouts of a 67-year-old Las Vegas woman who disappeared from her home in April.

The family of Billie Jean James, who is believed to have left her home on foot April 22, met with the news media Monday at her home to announce the reward and ask for the public’s help.

“Today is Day 27 of looking for Billie Jean,” said her husband, Billy James, 67. “I don’t know where she is. I just want her back home.”

James said he and his wife were planning to leave for a trip to Hawaii on April 23, the day after she possibly wandered from home.

In November, Billie Jean James suffered a mini-stroke, her husband said. At the time, she was confused and disoriented, but she “recovered completely,” he said. James said he suspected she may have suffered another episode, but that he was unsure why she left home.

James said his wife never mentioned leaving home. The couple has been married for 40 years and always told each other where they were going to be, he said.

Sgt. Peter Ferranti of Metro’s missing persons detail said his office has exhausted all leads. He said no witnesses saw Billie Jean James leave her home the morning she disappeared.

“We’ve done immediate searches of the area,” Ferranti said. “It’s still an open case.”

Friends described Billie Jean James as an active woman with a vibrant personality. She enjoyed hiking and the outdoors, and was in good enough shape to hike for miles, they said.

Billie Jean James is a retired professor of literature at UNLV, according to her friend Linda Nations, of Henderson. She has a love of the arts and literature, and was involved with the community, Nations said.

“She’s too busy doing all these events,” Nations said. “She’s always at some public event.”

Nations was part of a 106-person search team that looked for Billie Jean on May 8. Searchers found nothing.

“You think somebody has to have seen something,” she said. “How does someone just vanish from the face of the Earth?”

Norma Price, 74, of Las Vegas, has known Billie Jean James since 1975. She described her as someone who is outgoing and who always was surrounded by people.

“She was a come-one, come-all type of person,” Price said. “She loved to gather people. She had no reason to leave."

James said life has been difficult since his wife disappeared, but his friends and family have been there to support him.

“Thank God for friends,” James said. “I’ve been surrounded almost every day.”

James is described as 5-feet-8-inches tall and 140 pounds with brown eyes and black hair. Anyone with information concerning her whereabouts is being asked to contact Metro's Missing Persons Section at 828-3111.