A Richmond Hill woman who has been missing since December may be the victim of foul play, York Regional Police said Wednesday, the same day they offered a reward for information about the case.

Cheryl Rowe, 45, was last seen at an address on Rathfon Crescent, near Yonge Street and Carrville Road, shortly after midnight on Dec. 22 2011.

She hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

“The main concern is that she may have met with foul play,” Const. Blair McQuillan told CP24. “She hasn’t been in contact with family and friends and obviously investigators are concerned about her well being.”

McQuillan said police do not have any suspects in Rowe’s disappearance and continue to investigate the case with the help of her family, including her 19-year-old daughter and 26-year-old son.

"She left the house in good spirits and we've never seen her since,” the missing woman’s brother, Joe Rowe, told CTV News. “It's been almost seven months and no word, no nothing, it's as if she just disappeared off the planet earth."

Meanwhile, York Region’s Police Services Board is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who may have information on Rowe’s whereabouts.

“She was a fixture in the area and was somebody that a lot of people knew, so the hope is that somebody may see this and realize that they did see Cheryl at some point or some time and come forward,” McQuillan told CP24.

Rowe is described as being white, about five feet tall, 125 pounds with short dark brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing dark-coloured jeans, a light-blue two-toned jacket, purple Adidas running shoes and a white baseball cap with a green leaf on the front.

Renewed search

Police stepped up their search for the missing woman Wednesday by conducting an extensive ground search of a wooded area near the railway tracks near Bayview Avenue and Elgin Mills Road. Their search came up empty.

Officers had searched the area in the winter but decided to look again, hoping that a summer landscape might help them find new clues. Police denied receiving any tips that would lead them to renew their search.

Meanwhile, Rowe’s aunt Pauline Ciamarone told CTV News she watches the news with bated breath.

“"Unless you're in this position, you have no idea how awful it is because every time you hear something on the news, you think, is it her and then you imagine."

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at (866) 876-5423, ext. 7865.

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