Lake City Fl

The third stop of this really long day brought us to a Home Depot parking lot (10/8/13 7pm), where we could see a semi truck with two rows of missing persons flyers hanging from a clothesline, with an open space in the middle left for our RTRT banner. We saw tents set up to shield us all from the hot sun and a table already set out for our use. Our official host is Stefani Mitchell, mother of Missing Kamrie Mitchell, and unofficially co-hosted (or helped) by Donajean Kapp, sister of Missing Dori Ann Myers.

Kamrie Mitchell was a 24 year old mother of a little girl when she was last seen at her father's home on August  25, 2012. Earlier that same day a police report had been generated by victims in the house, who told deputies that Andrelo Witcher had entered with a firearm and made verbal threats towards them. No one saw Kamrie leave the home that night or had any idea where she might be going. She has not been seen or heard from since. Her car was found a few days later submerged in floodwaters with both her purse and her cellphone inside. Witcher was booked a few weeks later on charges of burglary while armed and possession of a weapon by a felon, as well as failing to comply with his sex offender registration. He is currently serving a 5 year sentence for the burglary. Witcher is also connected to another missing woman's case, Heather MacCrossen, a former girlfriend of his  who was last heard from in 2007. She also remains missing and investigators consider Witcher a possible suspect in both Heather and Kamrie's cases.

Dori Ann Myers disappeared in 2006 at the age of 43 from Ft Pierce, Florida. She was last seen in the company of  2 unidentified men whom she believed to be Marines wounded in Iraq. Neighbors report hearing loud voices coming from her home after which it was intentionally set on fire killing both her dog and her cat. Her car was seen leaving her home and was later found 80 miles away. It had also been burned.  Dori has not been seen or heard from since and her bank account and credit cards  remained untouched until her family had her declared legally dead to benefit her only living child. Investigators  have concluded that she was abducted by the 2 men who were with her that night and they remain prime suspects in her case.

Kamrie's family seemed to all be at the stop. There were so many little ones including her daughter. I watched a video of her and perused through family photo albums. I spoke with many of her family including her sister Kershta. Stefani was able to hold it together while speaking to the crowd, her granddaughter clinging to her side. She had hundreds of balloons and sky lanterns that she wanted to release. The number concerned me but she explained that she had one for every day that her daughter had been missing. We convinced her that setting off that many sky lanterns was not a good idea since we had run into trouble on last year's tour in a Walmart field. Even though we knew there were too many balloons, every one present wrote notes on them and then we released them all.

Dori's sister Donajean is a CUE volunteer and a close personal friend of mine who has helped me through many an anniversary or just a bad day. Dori went missing around the same time as Mathew and from my neck of the woods making her special to me. Donajean does a lot of the graphics for both the road tour and the conference. Little by little I've watched as she progresses. It's a long road and so difficult when there's no resolution. She does better out of the limelight but is working on finding her voice. I read a poem she wrote to Dori titled For My Lil Sis. "You were my Lil-Tag-A-Long but I didn't mind There was a big world out there we had to find.. Our lives were hard but we played the hands we were dealt wondering if anyone knew just how we felt Years of sacrifice Just trying to belong.. then before I knew it, you were gone. No more the responsibility of watching over you.. The real world has come into view. How I yearn for your sometimes annoying ways and to bring back our happiest days.. You looked up to me I never understood why Your faith in me makes me cry.. My heart is breaking always aching, for my lil tag-a-long Your disappearance is just so wrong.. I wait impatiently for news of your whereabouts, always nervous and full of doubts.. I Pray, I Cry, I Scream!! I wish this was all a dream I'm so full of anger and rage, my feelings are hard to gage. Please come home Lil Sis so many things we have yet to see Please come Tag-A-Long with me.."

I wish they could both come home. Most of all I wish for the answers these families so desperately need.

Elisa