Apr 19, 2013 4 min read

Washington County natives now living in the Boston area said a sense of uncertainty and isolation gripped their adopted town as authorities spent Friday searching for a suspect in last week’s marathon bombings and the region was temporarily locked down, with transit stopped and businesses closed.

Just as life in Boston appeared to be getting back to normal after the Monday bombings, the manhunt that began late Thursday and centered around the suburban communities of Watertown and Cambridge left people in that area wondering when it would end. They got their answer late Friday when authorities tracked down 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Watertown.

Without being able to travel to work or anywhere else, Roberta Cameron, who grew up in Washington and now lives in the town of Medford, just outside Boston, said several family friends came over to her home and spent the day chatting or reading online news reports of the situation. But Cameron, whose maiden name is Mitchell, wondered what information they could believe.

“Everything is at a standstill. Nothing is happening,” Cameron said. “It’s very quiet, and there’s nothing we can do but wait and see. Lots of our friends are glued to the media for updates, but I’m afraid most of what we hear are false rumors. I think we’re going to have to wait until it all plays out.”

Her community is a few miles from Watertown and wasn’t locked down, but a lack of mass transit and advisories to stay home impacted the daily routine. Cameron said her children were supposed to enjoy their last day of vacation camp Friday, but that was canceled because of the situation.

“I’m trying not to be too wrapped up in what’s going on out there since we’re just outside the zone of communities on lockdown,” she said. “But it has absolutely affected us. It’s a distraction.”

That sentiment was echoed by Tyler Scheidt, who is from Washington and now is working on his master’s degree at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

He was supposed to begin setting up his final project at a nearby art gallery Friday, but recent events stranded him at his girlfriend’s apartment in Somerville. Scheidt said he didn’t want to ride his bicycle back to his home in Allston because he was worried about being “questioned every step of the way.” His girlfriend left Friday morning to catch a flight and found police with assault rifles and body armor at the airport.

“I talked to a few friends in Boston, and there is a sense of uncertainty in the city,” he said. “I haven’t really gone outside since the events took place.”

Scheidt said the atmosphere in the city appeared to be returning to normal Tuesday night and Wednesday before immediately being flipped upside-down again.

“I’m just waiting right now,” said Scheidt said, who scanned his iPad for news reports. “Beyond that, there are a lot of separate storylines going on, so I’m trying to pinpoint the actuality of the situation. There are lots of different rumors going on.”

Jennifer Ward-Scarci, who grew up in Houston and moved to the Boston area about 22 years ago, said it has been an “emotional week” for the town and its residents. However, she was impressed with the response following the initial bombing at the marathon.

“I am so impressed with how people sprang into action immediately to help those who were in need and for those innocent souls who were injured and how brave they were to stay calm while people (were) helping them,” she said. “My heart goes out to all of them.”

Her town of Bedford is about a 30-minute drive north of Boston, but she was still concerned for the safety and well-being of people living near where the gunfight between the suspects and police happened in Watertown. She wondered how it would affect the community as it tries to move forward.

“This has been such a horrible and inhumane event,” Ward-Scarci said, “one that I am sure people will never forget.”