Authorities in Bend, Ore., scaled back their search last week for 22-year-old Ambler native Kate Svitek, who vanished on Feb. 9 from a ski resort and is now believed to be dead. Nearly 100 professional rescue workers from the Pacific Northwest were engaged in the search for Svitek, until fatigue and the onset of snowy weather forced them to stop.

A resort spokesperson, Carly Hogan, reported that the Mount Bachelor ski patrol will continue to conduct daily scans for Svitek for as long as it takes to find her. But with 125 inches of snow on the ground, Hogan conceded that it could take months before that happens. "We still have posters on the mountain," Hogan added. "If someone finds her, we would prefer it be our patrol, but we just want her to be found, period."

Svitek's family - mother Ellen, father Frank and brother Michael - have just returned from Oregon, after a frustrating and fruitless search for their missing daughter, who was snowboarding with two friends when she disappeared. While in Oregon the family was put in touch with Rabbi Jay Shupack, religious leader of the Jewish Community of Central Oregon and its approximately 80 families. "They opened up their synagogue and their hearts - they were unbelievable," said Ellen Svitek, an officer at Congregation Beth Or in Spring House. She noted that the Oregonians offered them meals, company and held two, creative-worship services, one of which was co-officiated by Shupack and Beth Or's Rabbi Gregory Marx.
"It was such an exhausting and horrific experience for them, and so lonely to be there so far away from their own community and their synagogue, we wanted to be able to provide a community of faith and support for them," said Oregon resident Marlis Beier. "We hoped that with the energy of our prayer we could create a miracle and find her, and, if not, at least support the family with our faith," said Beier.

So they did, by lighting candles, reciting the shema and by offering a special healing prayer. But for the Sviteks the pain goes on. 'Having lost a child," said Ellen Svitek, "you feel like there's a giant hole in your heart."
A memorial service for Kate Svitek will be held on Sunday, March 17, at 3 p.m. at Congregation Beth Or, Penllyn Pike and Dager Road in Spring House.