Georgetown, SC

The Georgetown rally was held in a field in view of Brittanee Drexel's billboard. It was an emotional gathering for me for a number of reasons. We've been meeting up more and more with families that I know...Families that are important to me.
Dawn Drexel, Britt's mom was unable to attend. I knew how upset she was over this..I know I wrote about this in a previous blog but having to search for a missing loved one far from where you live takes an additional toll..Brittanee Drexel was a 17 year old high school junior from Rochester NY. She vanished during a spring break trip to Myrtle Beach in April 2009. She had gone without parental consent so the phone call that her family got was that much more confounding...She was missing and she was missing far from home...turmoil, spillover fallout, limbo...breaks my heart...
The families of Crystal Soles and Garrett Hughes were our hosts. They had a beautiful banner made to both welcome and thank us. They stood beside it lighting candles in front of their loved ones pictures and telling their stories for the cameras, pleading for help or leads to bring their family members home. Garrett Hughes disappeared in November 2003. He was 44 years old when he was last seen leaving an assisted living facility that he had lived in for 3 years. He had a left sided partial paralysis from a head injury and was unable to walk long distances. He has never received the attention, the press coverage that EVERY missing person deserves..then time goes on and cold cases fade away..But for the family, life can never really go on...it is impossible to move forward...you are forever stuck..
Crystal Soles was a 28 year old mother of a young son when she vanished from Andrews, SC in January 2005. She was last seen at a neighborhood corner store. She called her father and said she was going to walk home....she never made it home..I first met Crystal's mom Gail in March 2006 at the CUE conference. We were both rookies that year and formed an immediate bond. I had gone alone, people seemed to react to that and I remember not understanding why...I felt alone..alone in my journey...why wouldn't I come alone? Once I was at that first conference I knew I had found people like me, people who understood, and I was no longer alone. Year after year we attend, Gail and I, Mathew was eventually found, my journey has changed it's course..Gail's hasn't...year after year...Gail has had some more loss, and is raising Crystal's son... A young man now, whom I was meeting for the first time...a boy who needs to know what happened to his mother..I also met her family, a large group that I was happy to see support her in her journey. I know how hard Gail works for Crystal..still..flyers, events,
searches..Always trying to continue, to move forward, to make some sort of progress..she's even begun counseling other families on what to do...Victims become Advocates...we help one another...because when we help others we are also helping ourselves..
Elisa