Police in New Brunswick are searching for a 56-year-old woman who disappeared from a special care home in Bouctouche last week.

Murielle Leger left Foyer Joe sometime after 5 p.m. Friday but she wasn’t reported missing until Monday because staff didn’t realize she was missing.

Leger’s sister, Francine Bourque, says workers at the home thought she was staying with family over the weekend.

“My cousin called to see how she was doing. She wasn’t there,” says Bourque.

Dozens of friends and family members have gathered in Bouctouche to help police in the search effort.

“She’s out there somewhere in the woods, so we’re here rain or shine to see if we can help find her,” says searcher Gaetan Beaulieu.

Leger had been living in the care home since December 2011 but family members say she had recently been asked to move out.

They aren’t sure why and no one from the care home was made available for comment.

“I believe she was told she had to the leave the Foyer, but I believe she was given an extra month to leave,” says Bourque.

Search crews and an RCMP helicopter have been searching the shoreline and wooded areas of Bouctouche for signs of the missing woman.

Friends of the family tell CTV News Leger has a bad leg, and if she left on foot, she can’t be too far away.

“My honest opinion, I think she’s in the woods,” says Bourque.

Leger requires daily medication to prevent seizures, but her pills and the rest of her belongings were left at the home.

A Ground Search and Rescue team will be brought in Thursday.

Richibucto RCMP Cpl. Chantal Soucy says the extensive search for missing university student Christopher Metallic in Sackville has depleted the team.

“Because of the condition of the team they needed some downtime to be able to get ready for another search,” says Soucy.

Leger is described as a white woman with blond, shoulder-length hair. She is five-foot-one and weighs 115 pounds.

She was last seen wearing a black skidoo jacket with yellow stripes, jeans and brown boots.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the RCMP at 1-888-506-RCMP (7267).

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jonathan MacInnis