Unknowns about missing persons affect loved ones for years after cases grow cold
By Kelly Marshall Fuller
The Sun News
Gail Soles shivers in the frigid morning air and clutches a handful of missing-person fliers.
The fliers, which bear the picture of her daughter, Crystal Soles, have been pasted around Georgetown County for nearly two years - when Crystal Soles was reported missing.
The families of Crystal Soles and Garrett Hughes, another missing Georgetown County resident, have never stopped searching for them. Their disappearances illustrate the challenges authorities face when adults vanish with no obvious signs of foul play - as Wayne and Dianne Guay of the Burgess Community did earlier this month en route to visit family in New York.
Both Hughes and Soles are considered endangered adults, according to the Center for Missing Adults Web site. Their cases remain classified as missing persons cases, said Neil Johnson, spokesman for the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office. The S.C. Law Enforcement Division is assisting with the search for Soles.
"I look at these families and sometimes they have gone years not knowing where their loved ones are," said Kym Pasqualini, director of the Center for Missing Adults.
"I call it the perpetual limbo of being in a circular flight pattern and you can't come down."
The wait for news can be difficult for families, said Capt. Nelson Brown of the Georgetown Police Department.
Police departments can assist the families by putting the information in the National Crime Center computer and printing more fliers.
But leads can run out and tips become scarce as the search stretches on, Brown said.
"Obviously, it's a tremendous impact," Brown said. "It's the not knowing of where a person is, and always wondering."
Families of missing people live in an atmosphere of constant uncertainty, said Monica Caison, who leads a missing person's center in Wilmington, N.C.
"It changes the family, and I don't think their days are ever the same," said Caison, director of the Center for United Effort, also known as CUE.
"They suffer all the emotions that any family does, but for these people, it just keeps on and on."
Soles, whose 30th birthday was Nov. 10, reportedly vanished in the vicinity of Shaw's Corner, an Andrews-area convenience store.
Business owner Sheila Shaw denies that Soles was last seen alive at the store but said Soles did use the phone and eat a hot dog around 8 a.m. Jan. 24, 2005.
A tracking dog brought by the CUE center followed Soles' scent a short distance from the store, Caison said.
Hughes, 44, reportedly vanished in the vicinity of Manor House, an assisted-living center in Georgetown.
Manor House is now closed, and the former owner could not be reached for comment.
Soles said her daughter was known to spend time away from home, but always called her family.
She was living with her father when she disappeared. She has one son, Mitchell Prosser, now 7.
"She always stayed out a lot, and she walked the streets a lot. But if she wasn't going to be home, she would say she was at a friend's house," Gail Soles said.
Garrett Hughes had lived at Manor House for about three years. He would sometimes wander to a nearby church, but then return to Manor House, said his brother, Joseph Hughes.
His family, the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office, city police and Winyah Rescue Squad conducted a countywide search after his disappearance.
Since then, Joseph Hughes has continued the search.
He has asked television talk shows and other media outlets to distribute information about his brother.
He has printed fliers and has asked other family members to be on the lookout for his brother.
"That don't sound like a lot, but for somebody who's been missing that long, you don't know which way to turn," he said.
Crystal's father, Buster Soles, wants to recover his health so he can help look for his daughter, Gail Soles said. He has a chronic illness of the lungs and cannot leave his home.
"You get angry and you have a lot of different feelings," Gail Soles said. "It's just really hard not knowing."
There are 109,968 active missing persons cases in the United States.
In South Carolina, there are at least 1,034 active missing persons cases, with 167 of those being considered "endangered adults."
An endangered adult is considered a case where there is not enough evidence to show possible foul play.
At least 559 missing persons cases in S.C. involve children.
Source: The Center for Missing Adults
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Garrett Thomas Hughes
Classification | Endangered missing adult
Nickname | Gary
Birthdate | Sept. 11, 1959
Date missing | Nov. 27, 2003
From | Georgetown
Age at time of disappearance | 44
Gender | Male
Race | White
Weight | 190 pounds
Hair color | Black
Eye color | Brown
Complexion | Medium
Identifying characteristics | Scar on forehead, paralysis of left side from stroke, drags left leg and left arm is drawn in.
Garrett was last seen at his residence in the vicinity of Academy Avenue and Fraser Street in Georgetown.
Call the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office, 546-5102
Source: CUE Center for United Effort
Crystal Gail Soles
Date missing | Jan. 24, 2005, from Andrews
Birthdate | Nov. 10, 1976
Age at time of disappearance | 28
Height and weight | 5 foot, 3 inches, 110-135 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics | Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Soles has double-pierced ears. Her nickname is Frog.
Clothing/jewelry description | A watch on her left wrist and numerous rings.
Medical conditions | Soles was addicted to drugs at the time of her disappearance.
Soles was last seen about 8:30 a.m. Jan. 24, 2005, in the vicinity of Jones Avenue and Main Street in Andrews. Her case remains unsolved.
Call the Andrews Police Department, 264-5223
Source: CUE Center for United Effort
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Contact KELLY MARSHALL FULLER at 357-9187 or kfuller@thesunnews.com.
CUE Center for Missing Persons
PO Box 12714
Wilmington, NC 28405
(910) 343-1131
(910) 232-1687 24 Hour Line
Email: cuecenter@aol.com
Website:
http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/soles_crystal.htmlhttp://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200502728S
