GRESHAM, Ore. (AP) — The mother of an Oregon woman who disappeared Tuesday in suspicious circumstances said her daughter’s heart “is as big as the sun” and urged people in the Portland area to keep looking for her.

“It hurts to breathe right now,” Lorilei Ritmiller told reporters Thursday while speaking of 21-year-old Whitney Heichel. “But we just want to find her and we’re not going to stop.”