08/08/2024
19 years today.
I imagine different scenarios of what happened to Mom that day. She supposedly went to her friend Pat's house for breakfast. Left her house at 10:00am, drove to convenience store to get gas and left for California.
Did Mom even make it to California? She had asked two friends individually if they wanted to go with her for the day trip. Both declined. She told Pat she would call her when she arrived back home that evening. She never called Pat.
Pat called me Tuesday night around 8pm to tell me something happened to Mom. I dropped to my knees, I thought she was going to tell me that Mom was dead. She then told me that Mom never made it home. Pat said she called the California Highway Patrol and the Nevada Highway Patrol. We found out later, she never called either agency. When Mom didn't show up for work the next day, her boss and co-workers called her, no answer. It wasn't like her to not show up for work. They went to her house to check on her. No vehicle in the driveway. Her boss called the Highway Patrol and the Mineral County Sheriff's office to tell them Mom was missing. The FBI eventually became involved in looking for Mom also.
Two days later, on Wednesday, Mom's car was found in the next to the last parking spot in the parking lot of Donnell Vista Overlook on 108 in California. Search and Rescue teams, dogs and helicopters scoured the area without success. We later hired an expert from Yosemite Mountaineering to rappel 750 feet down from the Overlook. Carole Sund-Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation put up a 10,000 reward for Mom.
We have held several searches, so many kind people helped us look for Mom. We met so many kind people. They didn't know us, but they lent us their ATVs, their Jeep, their place of business to run the searches from, a place to stay while we looked for Mom. They held fundraisers so we could continue to stay and look for Mom. Everyone that knew Mom had nothing but kind words for her. Here at home, so many have shared memories of Mom. You all will forever be in our hearts.
America's Most Wanted, CBS Morning News, Fox with Greta, Nancy Grace, Missing Without a Trace, Missing aired Mom on national TV. Faxed Mom's picture and information to hundreds of hospitals, shelters, other town's websites. Contacted Salvation Army who assisted in searching for Mom. Tim Miller, of EquuSearch helped us. He came all the way from Texas to California to join us in a search. Left messages on so many online message boards. Contacted Satellite companies and NASA for help. Held church vigils.
What happened? Did Mom even make it to Dardanelle Vista? If so, did someone act like they were in trouble and needed help? Did someone attack her and kill her? Did she even leave Hawthorne? Could it have been someone she knew that harmed her? Could she be in the Witness Protection Program? What more can we do to find out what happened?
Thank you everyone who has stayed in contact with us and shown us so much love. Please don't ever hesitate to ask us questions or give us any advice! ♥
