Search to resume for missing Kodiak girl

KODIAK (AP) -- Searchers are regrouping to look for new clues in the disappearance of a Kodiak girl who was last seen nearly two years ago.

Jonnie Renee White, 16, was last seen in July 1998 in the Pasagshak Bay area.

Friends of the family are organizing a search of the area Saturday.

''The grass is low and she's still missing,'' family friend Penny Russell told the Kodiak Daily Mirror.

White was last seen on an overnight camping trip at the Pasagshak state campground. She reportedly accompanied two adults to babysit a child during the trip.

Roland Scott Tennison, one of the adults, told state troopers that Renee went with him after midnight in a four-wheel drive pickup to collect firewood on the beach. The pickup got stuck, he said, and they decided to sleep in the truck.

Tennison said when he woke up the next morning, Renee was gone. By the time he returned to the campground, troopers had started a search after receiving a call from Tennison's girlfriend that the pair was missing.

Troopers have never found clues leading to an explanation of her disappearance.

Alaska State Trooper Sergeant Darlene Turner says leads in the case come slowly and have turned up nothing.

''As recently as last week we were following up a lead. We excavated what somebody thought was a grave, but we found nothing,'' Turner said.