ALAMOSA– A search is underway for a 61-year-old Colorado Springs woman missing in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range who was last heard from when she summited Ellingwood Point, according to the Alamosa County Sheriff’s office.

Sheriff Robert Jackson said Joy Cipoletti, an apparently experienced trail hiker, called her daughter about 3 p.m. Saturday. Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue (AVSAR) responded on Sunday and attempts were made to find a “ping” from her cell phone.

Undersheriff Sean Woods said a ping from a GPS device was picked up within an hour of her phone call, but the location given was about two miles from the peak in Huerfano County which would be difficult to reach in that time frame.

A Reach helicopter based in Salida transported AVSAR crews into the area Sunday and Monday but there has been no sign of the overdue hiker.

An AVSAR team spent Sunday night on the mountain hoping to catch a glimpse of light or anything to indicate Cipoletti’s whereabouts, Jackson said

Woods said search teams from Costilla and Huerfano county are assisting in the effort, as well as possibly a crew from Custer County.

Cipoletti’s car is parked at the South Zapata Lake trailhead and other hikers in the area have been questioned about whether or not they’ve seen her.

She was last known to be wearing a light purple or green jacket and may be wearing a white hat. She is described as 5’03”, 140 pounds with curly brown/grey hair.

If anyone has seen her, they are asked to call Colorado State Patrol dispatch at 719-589-5807 or search and rescue at 773-456-2927.