Rachel Conger Missing for 2 Years

I don't want to write this article.  Why, you may ask?  Because I was hoping and praying that long before now Rachel Conger would have been found, this case solved, and her daughter, Amber, would be embarking on a new phase of her life, finding a semblance of peace in knowing where her mother will rest.

This picture is one of my favorites of Rachel, although there are so many that radiate her beauty, this one radiates her love.  I can imagine this day as she walked along the path with Amber, having a great time that day, as she looks over at her daughter, beaming with pride.  Maybe, at the time, Amber didn't realize it, but I'm sure she felt the energy of her mother's love for her.

Rachel Conger was missing for just a few months when I first became aware of her case.  What drew me, as well as many others, to her case was Amber.  Reading about all the things that Amber was willing to do to help in the search for her mother was astounding to me.  Raising money by having bake sales, car washes, any way she could think of, was a huge endeavor for a 13 year old living in a small town like Paris, TN.  Like so many other families with missing loved ones, no stone was left unturned in trying to bring attention to their case, but no 13 year old should have to spend her time like this, searching for her mother.

It's just so hard for me to believe that it's been 2 years!  With the help of missing persons organizations, like CUE Center for Missing Persons, massive searches and investigations have been done, yet Rachel is still missing.  I just knew that she would be found, and I still hold that belief!  She will be found, maybe not today or tomorrow, but her time is coming soon.

Amber is now 15, a beautiful teenager trying to carry on a "normal" teenage life.  She has a close knit family who love her dearly and watch out for her well being.  She still works on keeping her mother's memory alive and would love to have her case featured on Investigation Discovery's new television show, "Disappeared" which does an amazing job of bringing the facts of missing persons cases into our living rooms in hopes that someone who watches holds the key to a resolution of the cases which they feature.

The family of Rachel Conger has connected with many other missing person's families as well as others who advocate and support them online.

Today there will be an "internet" candlelight vigil for all who have become close these past two years.  Please light a candle and say a prayer in Rachel's name that she is found soon.  Keep Amber and the rest of the family in your prayers as well.  Go to the Facebook event and instructions and links can be found.

Rachel Conger Online Anniversary Vigil 

Laci Remembered

Seven years ago there were a lot of preparations surrounding December 24.  Preparing for Christmas, the baking, shopping, wrapping, and decorating as well as preparing for birth.  Christmas, the birth of Jesus, a celebration, and the birth of another, a first son was just around the corner.  It was a busy time of last minute scheduling, gifts to be picked up and delivered, as well as tending to personal needs of the season.

Being 8 months pregnant is exhausting and topped with all of the other things to do, Laci Peterson still managed to attend a Christmas party, dressed in red silk and a dimpled smile, she went alone, her husband away on a business trip.  She didn't know that would be one of the last pictures taken of that smile, and yet, it's that smile that captured the hearts of millions. 

Laci was last seen on December 23 while attending to the last minute appointments and errands surrounding the coming festivities planned with her family and friends.  The world stopped for her that day and we were all breathless, waiting on news that she had been found.  Her husband made calls to her family searching for an answer to where she could be.  It was December 24, Christmas Eve, dinners planned and Laci had prepared a recipe for French Toast for their breakfast.

Massive searches of the area disrupted the carefully planned holiday for several families in the Modesto, California area.  Horses, dogs and people combed the park where her husband said she had gone to walk the dog.  The dog returned home, Laci did not.

Days, weeks and months went by, and no sign of Laci.  Her family looked distraught on television interviews, her mother, Sharon, frantic with worry, and yet, Laci's face held that famous smile with a twinkle in her eye looking like she would return at any time and start chattering about where she had been.  A massive awareness campaign was being carried out, flyers posted, media coverage and we waited for any word of what happened to Laci and her unborn son, Connor.

All the while her husband was being looked at in a different light.  He seemed to be avoiding contact with the press, avoided being seen with tears, avoided begging for help in finding his wife.  It seemed like unusual behavior, but, there are no set patterns on how to act when your wife is missing.  At the candlelight vigil it's reported he was in almost a jovial mood, making calls on his cellphone and caught by the camera with a smirk on his face.  His behavior in light of his wife and unborn son being missing was disarming.  Many started to wonder.


As the months wore on to the Easter season, Laci and Connor washed  ashore near the Berkeley Marina, a place it was proven that her husband had been that very Christmas Eve, fishing.  The media coverage was extensive when her husband was finally arrested and brought to trial, convicted and sentenced to death.

As we are in the same week of preparation for the Christmas holiday, the celebration of the birth of Jesus, there is another high profile case of a missing mother with a big bright smile in the news.  Susan Powell, the mother of 2 toddlers, disappeared sometime in the night of December 7.  Her husband, Josh, unexpectedly bundled up the two children and took them camping on a freezing cold night after midnight.  When he returned the next day, Susan was gone, leaving behind her cell phone and purse.

A husband's strange behavior is being revisited each day on the media reports. Josh Powell, at this time, is the only "person of interest" until such time as he can be eliminated.  Time will tell. 

As you gather with your family this Christmas, hold your children tighter and remember those little ones who are spending Christmas without their mothers, and the big ones, too.


Remember the brown eyed girl, Laci Peterson, whose dimpled, smiling face we will never forget.

Kelly Currin Morris: A Piece of Peace

Kelly Currin Morris has been found after she allegedly went looking for the family dog a year ago, September 3, 2008.  As the year wore on, and searches conducted, we watched the pain of this family who over and over again, went back out into the rural fields and woods of Stem, NC, knowing that one day their searching would end.  That day has come, Kelly has been found, and now the family is making arrangements to lay her in her final resting place.

At a time of Thanksgiving, I'm sure the family is thankful for the fact that Kelly is no longer missing, but I'm also sure that it's a bittersweet time knowing that she will never sit at her place at the table.

"It's like a brick is lifted off your chest," Hollis(Wanda Hollis, Kelly's mother) said. "You don't know what it's like until you go through it. It's unbelievably deep." 

Saturday, November 28, a public memorial service is planned to honor the life of Kelly.  A fund is set up in lieu of flowers for her daughters.  

As each of us sits with our families, thankful that we can reach out and touch each other this Thanksgiving Day, please take a moment during your grace to ask for a blessing for these young daughters.

Two little girls, like so many others out there, will spend the rest of their lives re-living losing their mother.

These are the surviving victims of a trauma that runs deep and lasts a lifetime.  May we someday find a way to outstretch our hands of hope to these little (and big) children, help them find a way to find a "piece of peace" in their day.

Kelly Currin Morris, Vigil Marks One Year Missing

From The Criminal Report Daily
August 26, 2009
Kelly Currin Morris Vigil

Sept. 3 will mark the one year anniversary of the disappearance of Kelly Currin Morris.

Kelly, a 28-year-old mother of two, went missing from her Stem, N.C., home on Sept. 3, 2008. The following morning, an arson fire destroyed her home. She has not been seen since, and her husband has been named a "person of interest" in the case.

Meanwhile, the search for Kelly continues every weekend. Anyone interested in becoming involved can receive more information by contacting the Kelly Currin Morris Command Center at 919-812-2310 or via e-mail at helpfindkelly@gmail.com. The command center is located at 2816 Old Weaver Trail in Creedmoor, North Carolina.

The family of Kelly Currin Morris is offering a $30,000 reward for information on her whereabouts. Anyone with information is asked to call 919-812-2310.

Kellisue Ackernecht, What is Happening?

Reading around the various websites and blogs for current information about Kellisue Ackernecht brought me to a wide range of sites.  The friends and family are doing all they can to create "buzz" throughout the internet to bring awareness to the fact that Kellisue is still missing.  There are astrology sites, dream sites, and a myriad of bloggers and writers who have done their best to tell Kellisue's story and keep her name in the forefront.

Kellisue's case isn't very different from several other missing mother's cases, filled with frustration and brick walls. Other similarities include investigating the husband, but in this case local Johnstown law enforcement has stated that Jayson Ackernecht is not a person of interest nor a suspect in Kellisue's disappearance.  In fact, Jayson has told reporters the same thing Drew Peterson claims, that she ran off with another man, and like Drew Peterson, it seems Jayson is taking steps to move on with his life.

Although there aren't any hard and fast rules on how long a grieving husband of a missing wife or partner must wait before pursuing other women, in the case of both of these "left behind" mates, there seems to be a quick return back into the game.  Jayson has been found on the internet looking for love, in the same way Drew Peterson was trolling the singles sites.  Normally I wouldn't give much credence or interest to rumors about this, however, Jayson hit on one of my friends!  Strange, but true!  Just a little "come on" but enough to put up huge red flags about his motives, at least for me.

Of course, comments and sites have been taken down, but what you have to remember is once it's out on the big world wide web, it's there forever, there are no do-overs or take-it-backs.  So it doesn't surprise me that there is a site devoted to calling out Jayson Ackernecht and reporting on all his internet adventures.

Before I get too far into the saga of Jayson, I'll pull back and bring the focus back to where it should be, on Kellisue Ackernecht.  Logic and critical thinking, along with hours of reading and researching, tells me there is much more for law enforcement to do before Kellisue is found.  By all the accounts I've read about this case it appears unanimous that Kellisue would never leave as her husband wants us to believe.  She was a concientious mother, a hard worker, and not someone who would abandon her daughter.

Something sinister happened the night of September 30, 2008.  Cars don't just spontaneously combust, destroying evidence, and the driver disappear into thin air.  I, along with many who care, implore the Johnstown Police Department to do everything in their power and resources to fully investigate this case.  Help to bring resolution and answers to a little girl who will spend the rest of her life searching for the truth about her mother.

Listen for up to the minute information about this case, Tuesday, May 26, at 11PM EST on BlogTalk Radio.

The Justice Interrupted Investigates Team will be discussing this case and bringing more awareness to missing mother, Kellisue Ackernecht.

Join us at Peace4 the Missing
A network for families of missing persons and victims of crime.