Delia D'Ambra

They were growing more and more worried, but I don't know, maybe they just hoped Julie would arrive with a good explanation as to why she was so overdue.

The next day, September 10th, Julie's father, John Ward, called the Weld Dixons from England to check in and see how things were going, because Julie hadn't come home and he was getting nervous.

But Natasha and Paul had to break the bad news that Julie hadn't returned to Nairobi, and they were worried she was missing.

When John learned that information, it didn't sit well with him.

He immediately made arrangements to fly to Kenya and figure out what was going on.

That same day, September 10th, is when the majority of the source material states that Julie was officially reported missing to Kenyan authorities.

John didn't arrive in the country himself, though, to sync up with the police until two days later on Monday, September 12th.

As soon as he got on the ground, though, he immediately got to work and contracted four private planes and two helicopters to fly over the reserve and look for Julie.

He also connected with Doug, Natasha, and Paul to gather information about who she'd been traveling with and where she went.

He also coordinated local volunteers, game wardens, and police officers to aid him in his efforts.

The key to efficiently covering so much ground in a short amount of time was learning as much as possible about Julie's last known movements.

Julie was the eldest child in her family with two younger brothers, and from a young age, she really liked learning about animals thanks to her mother, Jan.

Author Nick Buckley detailed in Julie Ward, Gentle Nature, that it was mother and daughter's shared love of wildlife that got Julie interested in wildlife photography.

In 1986 and 1987, she'd visited Nairobi for extended stays and traveled on safari during those trips.

She reportedly fell in love with Kenya to the point where she wanted to eventually move there and sell jewelry made by the members of the Maasai tribe.

Her seven-month-long trip in 1988 had started in February and took her from Great Britain into Spain through the Mediterranean into several North African countries, Uganda, Tanzania, and eventually ended in Kenya in late June.

For most of July, she'd camped on Natasha and Paul's property in Nairobi because they allowed people who were traveling internationally to pitch tents on their land.

The more they'd gotten to know Julie during that summer, the more they all developed a close friendship over their collective love of dogs.

In August, Julie had decided to shift her living arrangements slightly and started renting that cottage from Doug Morey, who, like I mentioned earlier, lived next door to the Weld Dixons.

Around this time is when Julie purchased her Suzuki Jeep to get around while traveling.