More News

Police are continuing to search for a woman who went missing from the Bethesda home of a Sri Lankan diplomat on Jan. 28.

Pemawathi Perera Pothupitiyage, 58, is a nanny and domestic worker employed by the diplomat, said Cpl. Dan Friz, a spokesman for Montgomery County police.

Pothupitiyage was last seen in the early morning hours of Jan. 28 at the diplomat's residence, located in the 5100 block of Wilson Lane, and has not been heard from since.

She is a native of Sri Lanka who was assigned to work for the diplomat for several years, Friz said. She does not speak English and is unfamiliar with the area because she was usually accompanied when leaving the home, Friz said.

Friz said Pothupitiyage may be working for another Sri Lankan family in the area, but there is also concern she is lost. With an impending snowstorm threatening to dump two feet of snow on the region, police, employers and her family are especially concerned, Friz said.

Police are describing Pothupitiyage as a Middle-Eastern woman with brown eyes and long black hair with gray streaks, usually pulled into a ponytail. She is four feet eleven inches tall and weighs about 110 pounds, police say. She has missing teeth on both sides of her mouth, and was last seen wearing a light blue, long-sleeved sweater and a jacket. Anyone with information about her whereabouts should call the Montgomery County Police Second District Investigative Section at 301-657-0112 or the police non-emergency number at 301-279-8000.