FBI assisting in search for missing RDU employee

The FBI’s North Carolina field office is assisting in the search for a Raleigh-Durham International Airport worker who has been missing since Monday afternoon.

Allison Christine Cope went on break from her HMS Host job at the Starbucks in the ticketing lobby of Terminal 2 at about 3 p.m. and never returned, airport officials said. She was reported missing at about 7 p.m. Monday.

Shelley Lynch, spokeswoman for the local FBI office said the RDU Police Department remains the lead on the investigation.

“It’s standard practice for the FBI to assist if we have a technique or tactics that can be of assistance to them in an ongoing investigation,” Lynch said.

Lynch would not say which FBI tactics are being used in the investigation into Cope’s disappearance.

Cope is white woman in her mid-20s, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She is 5-foot-6 and 180 pounds, airport officials said. She was last seen wearing a black HMS Host-branded Starbucks polo, blue jeans and black shoes.

In a news release requesting help with the case, RDU police noted that Cope drives a silver, 2014 Ford Fusion, license plate EHA 2271, that has a “Change of Heart Pit Bull Rescue” sticker in the back window.

Airport officials have declined to discuss the case beyond basic information included in the initial release.

This story was originally published June 28, 2017 at 1:20 PM with the headline "FBI assisting in search for missing RDU employee."