Dothan, Alabama

Ashley Solomon and Amanda (Mandy) Morrow hosted the rally stop (10/8/13 10am) in a ballroom at the Clarion hotel. They had invited us to dinner the night before, but we knew we wouldn't arrive early enough, so they insisted on bringing dessert (delicious cookies) to us at the hotel when we arrived. They had gotten us rooms at the hotel and it was really nice not to have to drive anywhere in the morning.

Their grandfather, whom they call Papa, Missing James Aaron Toole (Aaron) went missing in 1995 at the age of 72. He said he was going to drive to Florida to visit a sibling for a few days. He never made it there and is still missing along with the car he was driving. The girls both saw him on that last day. He had met Ashley at the bus stop and Mandy,who had just started driving, came to his home to get her sister. He made a point of telling Mandy to make sure to not leave Ashley the following day at the bus, because he wasn't going to be there, and he didn't want her left alone.

The ballroom was decorated with love. A table with family photos, banners, and a large board with Alabama's missing. They also has a table set up with information on another missing, Shanna Peoples. The board they had set up had the state of Alabama made up of twine in the middle, with their Papa's photo in the lower right hand corner of the state. All around the state were cards with the photos and information on other Alabama missing cases. They had Thank You cards printed up with his picture and information attached to a packet of Forget-me-not seeds. They told us Aaron loved to garden. On the cards was written "If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever".

Ashley emceed the event. A Lieutenant was there from the Geneva Police Department to speak on behalf of Missing Shanna McKee Peoples, who was 19 when she went missing on September 8, 2011. Shanna is considered  at risk due to her vulnerability as a developmentally challenged young woman.  The Houston County Sheriff said he believes the not knowing endured by the families of the missing is worse than the suffering families of homicide victims experience. The lead investigator then told us what has been happening in Mr Toole's case.

Ashley read a letter from Aaron's only remaining sister, Irene, who was unable to travel to the stop, and then introduced her sister. Mandy held strong through her speech about her Papa. She told me she had practiced many times until she could get through it without breaking down. She did a wonderful job making us all feel as though we knew him. She told us that when she was growing up he was her favorite person in the whole wide world and her best friend. That "He taught me how to love so much it hurt".

After Monica spoke and everyone signed the banner we went outside for a balloon release and the necessary media interviews. We need to get going as we are headed to Florida and we have another dreaded time change to deal with.

This is a fairly recent CUE case and I really hope that we are able to do more to help this family find Aaron. I spoke with many of his family members and know that even though it's been almost 20 years they will never give up in their quest for resolution.

Elisa