Missing Doctor's Driving Route Re-Traced

Nov. 13 - KGO (KGO) -- A Bay Area story is making news throughout India: it's the case of a missing pediatrician of Indian descent. Dr. Zehra Attari left her Oakland office last Monday and never made it to a meeting in Alameda.

Sunday, friends and family retraced her route, hoping to find something that will help solver her mysterious disappearance.

Her name is spoken with hope and conviction. Dr. Zehra Attari of San Jose disappeared six days ago, and her family and friends are on a desperate search to find her.

Ruby Ali, missing doctor's daughter: "The worst thing is not knowing - not knowing what happened."

Now we do know a few more details about the day Dr. Attari vanished, and about her driving habits. The doctor was last seen leaving her Oakland clinic on International Boulevard at about 5:00 p.m. Monday in her silver Honda Accord. She had a meeting at the Alameda Alliance for Health about five miles away, but had never driven there without her husband.

Huma Attari, missing doctor's daughter: "She wasn't good with new directions, but she had been driving to Oakland for eight years; from our house to Oakland, Oakland to our house. It was not a problem."

A colleague had faxed the doctor directions from Mapquest. Her route should have taken 13 minutes from Fruitvale Avenue to Fernside, across the Bay Farm Island Bridge to Alameda, to the Harbor Bay Parkway, and finally South Loop Road.

As a pediatrician, Attari serves hundreds of children. During her absence, Dr. Brian Blaisch is helping some of her patients.

Dr. Brian Baisch, pediatrician: "They're very worried. She's got a very devoted patient following. It's a largely Hispanic practice. There aren't a whole lot of offices that take good care of Hpanic, Spanish-speaking patients."

And this doctor not only does that, she takes good care of her two daughters and husband of 29-years  all of whom want her back.

Tasadduu Attari, missing doctor's husband: "I'm very sad, desperate without her. And I have a sinking feeling I'm alone."

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