BEVERLY - They looked in the woods by Dane Street Beach, in the lobby of the post office on Rantoul Street, even inside a Dumpster on the waterfront.

Staff members from the River House shelter spent two hours last night searching for homeless people around the city as part of a statewide "street count" of the homeless.

The search came up empty, but shelter director Kate Benashski said that should not be interpreted as a sign that homelessness is not a problem in the city.

"I'm happy we didn't find anybody. Presumably they've found a place to hunker down for the night," Benashski said. "But it's a false sense of hope that the homelessness situation has gotten any better."

This is the first time since Beverly opened a homeless shelter in 1999 that shelter workers have conducted a street count, said Benashski, who became River House director in June. Benashski talked to the men who visit the shelter, as well as police, to find out where homeless people hang out in the city.

To help in her search, she took along one of the shelter "guests," as she calls them. Lenny, who did not want to give his last name, said the homeless seek out warm spots like ATM lobbies or isolated locations like boatyards.

Benashski said one man lived for three weeks on a boat stored at a Beverly boatyard.

"It was like his own private yacht," she said.

"There are homeless people in every town," Lenny said. "They don't like to go by any rules. They're stubborn. A lot of them are alcoholics. But most of them are harmless and don't bother anybody."

Benashski, who was also accompanied by shelter worker Alex Hernandez and former shelter director Farris Ajalat, searched the parking garages at the Cummings Center and Beverly Hospital. They searched around Hurd Stadium, behind a downtown laundry, on the public path alongside the Bass River and in the woods on Green's Hill in Ryal Side.

Benashski said homeless people had set up tents on Green's Hill during the summer. Hernandez walked into the woods with a flashlight last night and found nothing but some broken glass.

Despite the fruitless search, Benashski said homelessness is a significant enough problem that River House, which has 23 beds, has been filled to capacity and beyond on many nights this winter.

If she did find any homeless people last night, she would have handed them her business card and asked them if they needed a hot meal or place to stay. River House also assists people with health care, benefits, employment and other services.

"I know they're out there," she said. "We want to make sure we let everybody know what resources we have if they need them."