BARNSTEAD — It’s now been a week since Ashley Turcotte was last seen. That seven days has included cold nights and a winter storm. Meanwhile, efforts to find her have only accelerated. On Thursday, a search including multiple agencies and volunteers combed the woods near the last place her vehicle was seen and subsequent searches were planned.

Also planned is a candlelight event called “Light Ashley’s Way Home” at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 12. The public is invited to attend the event in the Barnstead Elementary School parking lot, and the gathering is intended to be a collective expression of hope for her safe return. Attendees are asked to bring their own candles, if possible.

Turcotte, 31, is five feet, five inches tall and has brown eyes and brown hair. She was last seen wearing dark pants and dark, long-sleeved shirt, possibly with a black or blue winter coat.

Turcotte was reported missing on Thursday, after her vehicle was found parked at the Town Hall lot. Inside were her backpack and her cellphone.

Anyone with information that might be helpful is asked to contact Barnstead police at 603-269-8100.

Chief Paul Poirier said police have examined every piece of surveillance footage that might have recorded what happened after Turcotte parked her car, but haven’t found anything useful. There is not a camera that covers the section of the lot where she parked, he said.

“We don’t know where she could be,” Poirier said, adding officers in the department, assisted by many other agencies, have been searching wooded areas near the Town Hall. The location where her car was found is the strongest thread searchers currently have to follow.

“That’s the starting point right now,” he said.

On Thursday, a search involving eight trained dogs took place, covering a radius about a half-mile around the Town Hall lot. Joining the effort were commercially licensed drone operators, who used aerial devices that had thermal imaging as well as night vision.

Earlier in the week, horse-mounted police officers from Manchester helped to search in the hopes that a more elevated vantage point might reveal something that was missed.

The search on Thursday included personnel from NH Fish and Game, as well as from New England K9 Search and Rescue.

“We do welcome any help that’s available to come out and assist,” Poirier said, noting he specifically wanted to include other law enforcement agencies or search and rescue organizations in that invitation. He asked that individuals join an organized effort, as solo searchers could distract other searchers or obscure available clues or scent trails. “If there are people who are going to organize a search, they should check in with Barnstead Police Department and take GPS coordinates. We don’t want someone going out to search an unfamiliar area to them and get lost themselves.”

Poirier said he understands the public’s motivation to help.

“It’s difficult for the family, and I would say people in the town are concerned,” Poirier said. “They want to help the best they can.”

In a driveway off Shackford Road, Brandon Turcotte, Ashley’s brother, was watching a team of licensed drone operators who were volunteering their time to help search the area from the air.

Brandon said “I don’t have words” to describe what the past seven days had been like for him and his family.

“We’re having an overwhelming amount of support, people coming out to ask to do stuff,” Brandon said. Some have been less helpful, such as spreading false reports that Ashley was at a hospital. He also has asked hold off on people entering the woods themselves, for fear of hindering the search efforts of local officials who are better trained and equipped for the task.

“The amount of support we have from Barnstead Fire, Barnstead Police Department, everyone in the community, letting us know that everyone wants to help find her” has been a source of comfort, Brandon said. “Right now there’s so many agencies involved, they’re all doing everything they can.”

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