Fort Pierce, Florida

Getting from Tampa to Fort Pierce on time was quite the feat!!
Teresa Holiday hosted the event in memory of her late husband Nick who had been missing for two months in early 2010. She did a wonderful job. She spoke with a shaky yet determined voice.. She's one of us now.. It's been over a year since her husband was recovered but once you join our group you become a lifer. She organized the event to bring awareness to other missing persons in her area. As she invited each family to come up and speak she seemed to know instantly whether she should remain next to them for support or whether they would be OK to speak alone.
Emillie Hoyt was 23 years old when she went missing from Highland Beach in 2006. Her family lives out of state which makes things that much more difficult. They were unable to attend and sent a letter that Teresa read. Emillie was living with a boyfriend when her family stopped receiving phone calls from her...the boyfriend told them that he had kicked her out. When her family called the police they refused to take a missing persons report. They told her family that there was no evidence that she was missing. It was years before they agreed to list her as missing. It really makes you wonder how many cases like that are out there? How many people disappear without anyone noticing?
Richard Borrack, 77, went missing from Jensen Beach in July 2010. He had taken off his GPS tracking device and walked out of the assisted living facility that he resided in. He suffers from short term memory loss and had done this before. Previous to this time though, he had always been quickly located. His daughters attended the rally to spread the word about his case. They appeared "fresh".
A friend of Kelly Rothwell was at the event. We had just left Kelly's rally that morning. Also, the brother of Gail Palmgren, who we had attended a rally for days earlier in Tennessee.
Donajean, Dori Ann Myers sister also spoke. Dori was 43 years old when she opened her home to what she thought were two military men in need of a warm bed. She went missing in 2006 from Vero Beach. Her home had been set on fire and gutted. Hr car was eventually found 80 miles away, also burned. I've been familiar with this case since Matt went missing, which sometimes seems like a lifetime ago. It's been too long not to have answers, to not know what happened to someone you love..to live day in and day out waiting...
Tony DiFrancesco pleaded with the crowd for any information about his missing brother Patrick. Patrick went missing in 1985 from Fort Pierce. He was 24 years old. Tony feels that there are people out there who know where his brother is buried. This is an old case with a chance for resolution after 25 years. CUE is currently involved in an ongoing forensic dig. Tony seemed "fresh", at first I didn't understand...it's been 26 years...but I guess that with the chance of finding him so close at hand, old wounds have been reopened.
The program ended with the crowd casting flowers into the Intercoastal. I felt overwhelmed leaving. There was a lot packed into this stop. This is my backyard...my mom came to show her support. I was glad she got to witness a snapshot of what I've been doing over the last week. I didn't get to spend much time with her but I had warned her that it would be like that...chop, chop....off to Jacksonville....
Elisa