3 Years Missing: Rachel Conger

 March 13, 2011 is the 3rd year anniversary of Rachel Conger's disappearance.

Each Spring as the sun shines warmer and daffodils bloom on cool mornings, I'm reminded that Rachel is still missing, taken from our world way too soon.  Each year, on the morning of the anniversary of the day Rachel went missing, I sit to write something to honor her memory, and each year I wish it to be the last time.

Honoring Rachel today, as in years past, to me, is honoring all of the mothers missing from their children.  Although she may be missing from our earthly lives, as I once again look over her pictures, I'm reminded of the impact she's made on the world, I see the day differently through the eyes looking back at me.  Although I didn't know her personally, through these pictures and memories of her family, she has become close to many, reminding us that lives can be changed in an instant and those changes are far reaching.

Today marks the third year Rachel's daughter, Amber Simmons, has been without the mother who dearly, dearly loves her.  We have watched as Amber has grown from  a mere child to a beautiful young lady filled with much of the spirit of her mother. There are many surrogate "Mamabears" who vow to keep an eye out for this young lady, watching over her and taking her under our wings when needed.

Each year she whispers softly to us, reminding us all to take care, to love more, to reach out further, to be reminded that there is a family who starts every day silently hoping  it will be the day that she will be found.

Her light is gone, her voice is silenced, but we will continue to gather, united in prayer and hope that the light and love she left in this world will shine upon the path that, one day, will bring her home and give her family peace.

What more can we say, what more can we do, to bring her home? 

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Henry County Sheriff’s Department
Sheriff Monte Belew or (retired) Investigator Mike Smothers
(731) 642-1672
If you have any information on this case please contact CUE Center For Missing Persons using the contact form below or contact Cue Center at (910) 343-1131 24 hour tipline (910) 232-1687.

NamUs Missing Person Case #MP 5106

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/5106/0/

Information about Rachel Conger:

http://bringrachelhome.blogspot.com/

http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/rachel-conger/

Past articles about Rachel Conger:

http://mothersarevanishing.blogspot.com/2008/08/rachel-conger.html

http://mothersarevanishing.blogspot.com/2009/02/can-you-help-find-rachel-conger.html

http://mothersarevanishing.blogspot.com/2009/03/rachel-conger-monday4-missing.html

http://mothersarevanishing.blogspot.com/2010/03/rachel-conger-missing-for-2-years.html

http://mothersarevanishing.blogspot.com/2010/11/from-mother-to-daughter-rachel-conger.html

 

From Mother to Daughter: Rachel Conger

I Am Still Here

Please don't mourn for me

I'm still here, though you don't see.

I'm right by your side each night and day

And within your heart I long to stay.

My body is gone but I'm always near.

I'm everything you feel, see or hear.

My spirit is free though I'll never depart

As long as you keep me alive in your heart.

I'll never wander out of your sight~

I'm the brightest star on a summer night.

I'll never be beyond your reach~

I'm the warm moist sand when you're at the beach.

I'm the colorful leaves when Autumn's around

And the pure white snow that blankets the ground.

I'm the beautiful flowers of which you're so fond,

The clear cool water in a quiet pond.

I'm the first bright blossom you'll see in the spring,

The first warm raindrop that April will bring.

I'm the first ray of light when the sun starts to shine,

And you'll see that the face in the moon is mine.

When you start thinking that there's no one to love you,

You can talk to me through the Lord above you.

I'll whisper my answer through the leaves on the trees,

And you'll hear my answer on the soft summer breeze.

I'm the hot salty trees that flow when you weep

And the beautiful dreams that come while you sleep.

I'm the smile you see on a baby's face,

Just look for me, I'm everyplace!

~Author Unknown

Bring Rachel Home........

http://bringrachelhome.blogspot.com/

Mother, daughter of missing women to search the desert

May 3, 2009 - 8:30 AM

By ABBY SEWELL, staff writer

BARSTOW • The mother of one missing woman and the daughter of another will join forces this upcoming weekend to search for traces of their family members.

For the eighth time since 30-year-old mother of two April Beth Pitzer went missing in June of 2004, her mother, Gloria Denton, will travel to the Barstow area from Arkansas to join searchers May 9 and 10 in looking for her daughter’s body or any evidence that might explain what happened to her.

Stephanie Thompson, whose mother, Catherine “Cathy” Lique, disappeared from Barstow in November 2003 at age 44, joined in the search for Pitzer last year, hoping at the same time to find some trace of her mother. This year is the first time that the search will officially be for both women.

Thompson said Friday she and Denton found out just recently that Lique and Pitzer had met before, at the home of a woman in Yermo with whom Lique was staying for a while, and who also knew Pitzer’s boyfriend at the time.

Denton said Pitzer went to Newberry Springs in 2003 on what was intended to be a short trip after her marriage fell apart. Instead, she ended up stranded there, homeless and associated with unsavory people, Denton said. However, before Pitzer disappeared, Denton said she was planning to come home to start fresh with her estranged husband and two daughters, then three and five years old.

Lique was a truck stop prostitute who drifted around Barstow, Thompson said. Although Thompson had moved to Oregon with her father after her parents divorced, she tried to keep track of her mother. When her brother told her that no one had heard from Lique in a while, and then no one reported seeing her for another week, Thompson filed a missing person’s report.

Lique’s boyfriend at the time said she had left one morning with nothing but a red San Francisco 49ers jacket and never showed back up, Thompson said. Authorities may have initially assumed that Lique had just skipped town, she said.

“My mom wasn’t some pretty young girl who just crazily went missing,” she said.

Search for April Pitzer and Catherine “Cathy” Lique:
When: Saturday May 9, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday May 10, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Meet both days at The Barn in Newberry Springs, 44560 National Trails Highway. Search will cover area around Interstate 15 and around a mine in Ludlow where some of Pitzer’s clothes were found in December 2005.
Bring: snacks/lunch, water (organizers will provide water as well), large stick in case of encountering snakes
Off-road vehicles are also needed for the search
Burgers and hot dogs to be provided after the search Saturday
For more information, call 479-774-2410.

Still, Thompson said her mother would have eventually contacted the family if she had been able to, especially when Lique’s own mother died.

Thompson got in touch with Denton about a year and a half ago, after hearing a rumor that Lique had been killed and her body dumped in Newberry Springs, which led her to wonder if the case was connected to Pitzer’s disappearance. The two women have stayed in contact ever since.

“I get very discouraged a lot, and having Gloria on my side, she has definitely been a godsend,” Thompson said.

Barstow police never named a suspect in Lique’s disappearance. Pitzer’s case has also stalled, Det. Steve Pennington with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department homicide unit said. Some of Pitzer’s clothing was found in a mine shaft in Ludlow in December 2005. A message on the
wall of a truck stop in Oregon discovered in September 2004 read, “Want to find missing girl from Arkansas? I-15 3 miles east of Barstow.”

However, the leads came to dead ends.

“There’s people out there that have information, but they’re just not coming forward,” Pennington said.
To report information relating to Pitzer’s disappearance, call the Barstow sheriff’s station at 760-256-4123. To report information on the Lique case, call the Barstow Police Department at 760-256-2211. To remain anonymous, call WE-TIP at 1-800-78-CRIME.

Can You Help Find Rachel Conger?

There will be a massive search for missing mother, Rachel Conger, and a search of this magnitude requires much in the way of resources.  CUE Center for Missing Persons will be conducting the search and there is never a charge for the families they serve.  The families do their best to help by providing lunches for searchers who, along with K9s, make their own way to searches, at their own expense.  These are well trained, certified people who work at finding missing persons relentlessly, from dawn til dusk.

Rachel Conger was a young mother of a thirteen year old daughter when she went missing under suspicious circumstances March 13, 2008.  Her daughter, Amber, has done amazing things to help raise funds and has paid for past searches for her mother.  Sources tell me that Rachel and Amber had an unusually close relationship and pictures show an intense love for each other.  Rachel was married young, but had an acute sense about her, according to family members, and Amber has been able to learn those lessons of responsibility early on from her mother.

Her daughter, Amber, is the driving force behind each event to help find her mother whom she dearly misses. She had this to say to the community; ''I really want my mom found; she means the world to me. What 13 year old would not want their mom found? I am appreciative for what everyone has done to support us & help search for my mom. I ask for your continued support to help bring her home.''

Please unite with us and donate what you can to CUE Center for Missing Persons or directly to the "Bring Rachel Home" fund set up by her family.  Show your support for Amber and for all families of missing persons.

CUE Center donations can be made HERE.  You can use Paypal or send directly to the address provided.

"Bring Rachel Home" donations can be made to the following:
If anyone would like to donate to the Bring Rachel Home fund, the tax-deductible bank account is set up at:

Holley Credit Union
1107 Mineral Wells Ave.
Paris, TN 38242

*Information required*
Rachel Conger Special Account
"Bring Rachel Home"
Account# 8038-010

All of us involved in this latest search are asking at least for your prayers that Rachel Conger will be found and brought home to her family, especially her daughter, Amber.  Thank you for all you can do to help.