Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 50th case, and it was shown Friday night on HLN.
Kayla Berg's mother remembers the last time they talked: On the phone, hours before the Wisconsin teenager’s last known sighting in August 2009.
"She had called me earlier that day," said Kayla's mother, Hope Sprenger. "[She] told me that she might possibly be going over by some friends, hanging out. If she did, she would give me a call back later.
"She told me that she loved me. I told her I loved her, too, and we would chat later. And that was the last time we heard from her."
Police say Kayla, 15, of Antigo, Wisconsin, disappeared after getting a ride from her brother’s friend on August 11, 2009.
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 48th case, and it was shown Wednesday night on HLN.
Jamie Harper was supposed to stay at a friend's house after attending a party in Rantoul, Illinois, in March 2007.
Friends say she left the party on the early morning of March 10, but she didn't arrive at the friend's house and she never returned to her own home in Paxton, Illinois.
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 47th case, and it will be shown Tuesday at 9 p.m. on HLN.
Former child actor Joseph "Joe" Pichler was 18 when he disappeared from his hometown of Bremerton, Washington, more than five years ago.
Friends last saw him in the early morning of January 5, 2006, in Pichler's apartment, where he had been playing cards. After several people were unable to reach him in the coming days, they reported him missing. His vehicle subsequently was found abandoned behind a Bremerton restaurant four days after he was last seen, according to his family.
His family still doesn’t know what happened to him.
Pichler worked as a child actor in local commercials before moving to Los Angeles in the mid-90s. He appeared in movies such as "The Fan," "Varsity Blues" and "Children on Their Birthdays" before moving back to Bremerton, where he graduated high school. He looked forward to moving back to California to resume acting, his family said.
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 46th case, and it was shown Monday night on HLN.
Police say they believe California resident Dawn Viens, who disappeared in October 2009, is dead, but her body has not been found.
HLN reports that authorities say her husband is a suspect in the case. Viens, then 39, was last seen leaving the restaurant owned by her husband in Lomita, California, they say.
Joe Cacace, one of her friends, told HLN that her husband told him that they had an argument, but that she had walked away and didn't come back.
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 45th case, and it was shown Friday at 9 p.m. on HLN.
Stepha Henry, 22, disappeared after going to a party at a nightclub in Sunrise, Florida.
Henry and her teenage sister were visiting an aunt in South Florida over Memorial Day weekend in 2007. Her aunt said she left her apartment about 1 a.m. to go to a club called Peppers Cafe. The aunt said she saw her get into a car driven by a family acquaintance, Kendrick Williams.
Initially, Williams told investigators he had left the club early and that Henry had decided to stay. She has not been seen since. But a forensic analysis of his car revealed substantial evidence that detectives were able to conclusively link to Henry, police said.
Williams was charged with Henry's murder, but her body has not been found.
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 44th case, and it was shown Thursday night on HLN.
Rosemary Diaz, 15, was excited about entering the work force as a clerk at Dane's Country Store just down the road from home in Danevang, a one-traffic-light town south of Houston that is known as the Danish capital of Texas. The small convenience store sold everything from hamburgers to gasoline, and Rosemary was trusted to do the work on her own.
On the night of November 24, 1990, just weeks into the job, Rosemary was waiting for her sister. Elia, to visit her at the store, police say. Rosemary called home at 7:30 p.m. to make sure they were still coming.
Soon afterward, two customers entered the shop, and no clerk was to be found. Office hurried to the store and found Rosemary's car parked outside. Her purse with cash and her paycheck were left behind in the store, police say. No money was missing from the register, and there were no obvious signs of a struggle. Only the soda machine had been moved and the front leg bent.
To this day, there are no strong leads and for Rosemary's family, many nagging 'what ifs'. Elia Diaz says she almost stopped by the store earlier that day to buy a drink. Instead she drove to her mom's house first.
"Maybe I would have saved her."
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 43rd case, and it was shown Wednesday at 9 p.m. on HLN.
Not long after 23-year-old Stacy Peterson disappeared in October 2007, the search became overshadowed by suspicions against her husband, Drew Peterson.
Stacy Peterson was the former officer's fourth wife. They began living together in Bolingbrook, Illinois, while he was going through a contentious divorce from his previous wife, Kathleen Savio. She was later found dead in a bathtub in 2004.
Police have investigated the sites of several remains for Stacy Peterson near the couple's home without success.
Meanwhile, Stacy Peterson's disappearance prompted authorities to reopen the case into Kathleen Savio's death, resulting in murder charges against Drew Peterson in her death. He is awaiting trial, while the families of the two victims await answers and justice.
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 42nd case, and it was shown Tuesday at 9 p.m. on HLN.
Kimberly Arrington's mother died without knowing what had become of her daughter, who disappeared in 1998 without a trace.
But the memory of the 16-year-old lives on among those who love her. Kimberly's father still waits for her to come home, and her sister named her daughter after her missing aunt.
Kimberly left the family's home in Montgomery, Alabama, around 5 p.m. on October 30, 1998, telling her mother that she was going to a nearby CVS drugstore. She never came home.
Kimberly was a "good girl," a friendly, outgoing teen who accepted everyone with open arms. Someone may have asked his daughter for directions, Walter Arrington believes, and forced her into a car.
"Most people liked her, and she was very friendly towards everybody," he said. "I felt like maybe that's part of the reason why they got her."
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 40th case.
Tangena Hussein was 2 when her mother's boyfriend reported her missing in Detroit on October 2, 2008.
The man told police he put her in his car, and he began driving to a mall to pick up Tangena's mother from work. On the way, he stopped at a Detroit gas station, left Tangena in his locked car and went inside the store to get some gum, he told police.
He told police that when he exited the gas station, Tangena was no longer in the car. He reportedly drove to the mall to pick up Tangena's mother before returning to the gas station to call police and report the girl's disappearance.
Police say the vehicle showed no signs of forced entry. They say they don't know what happened to Tangena.
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2011/03/14/ng.americas.missing.3.14.hln"%5DEditor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 39th case, and it will be shown Thursday at 9 p.m. on HLN.
After working the second shift as an assembly line supervisor at a Honda plant in Union County, Ohio, 29-year-old Patricia Adkins (pictured) clocked out at midnight on June 29, 2001.
Friends say she was going to spend the Fourth of July week with a married co-worker with whom she'd been having an affair. The two allegedly were headed to a remote part of Canada.
When the single mother didn't pick up her daughter as scheduled on July 8, relatives reported her missing. Police say they've questioned the married co-worker several times, and that he is the only person of interest in the case, but no charges have been filed.
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 38th case, and it will be shown Wednesday at 9 p.m. on HLN.
Andrea Durham's mother said she last saw the teen in their Florida apartment as the mother left to attend a meeting in February 1990.
Andrea, 13, was supposed to be vacuuming. When her mother returned two hours later, a vacuum cleaner was standing upright in the family room, but Andrea was gone - and her family hasn't seen her since.
Police said they found no signs of forced entry or foul play in the Fort Walton Beach apartment, and none of Andrea's personal items was missing.
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 36th case, and it was shown Monday night on HLN.
Police say Paige Johnson, 17, disappeared last fall after leaving her Kentucky home with an acquaintance on the night of September 22.
The acquaintance, a 22-year-old man, says he spent a couple of hours with her at his home before dropping her off early in the morning in Covington, Kentucky, a few blocks from her sister's home, where she was supposed to stay, according to police.
Her sister reported her missing because Paige didn't arrive. The man has not been charged in the case.
"Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 37th case, and it will be shown Tuesday night on HLN.
Brandon Swanson called his parents shortly after midnight on May 14, 2008, to ask them for a ride after driving his car into a ditch. His parents set out in their pickup truck to find him in the nearby town of Lynd, Minnesota. Brandon became frustrated as their efforts to find him turned fruitless. They exchanged several calls just before 2 a.m. and eventually carried on a long conversation while the younger Swanson was walking, trying to direct his father to where he was.
He told his father to look for him at a nightclub parking lot that was a popular meeting spot in Lynd. But at the 47-minute mark, the call ended abruptly. The teen shouted an expletive, and the phone went dead.
It was the last time anyone heard from him.
At 6:30 a.m., Annette Swanson called the Lynd Police Department to report Brandon missing, and officers eventually joined the search. They, too, came up with nothing, and a countywide request was dispatched to expand the search.
Phone records later showed that the teen was nowhere near Lynd, where he told his parents he was. His cell phone calls were traced to a tower 20 miles away in Minnesota.
Anyone with information that could lead to the whereabouts of Brandon Swanson is asked to call the Lincoln County Sheriff at (507) 694-1664.
"Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 35th case, and it was shown Friday night on HLN.
Venus Stewart walked out to her mailbox in her pajamas to mail a letter the morning of April 26, 2010, and was never seen again.
Police believe the young mother of two little girls is dead, but a body has not been found. Drag marks in the yard pointed to signs of a struggle. Search warrants later revealed blood believed to belong to the 32-year-old mother in her estranged husband’s truck, along with a receipt for a shovel, tarp and gloves.
The estranged husband, Doug Stewart, is on trial for Stewart’s murder. While Venus’ family finds solace with the justice system, they want to find their daughter to give her a proper burial.
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 34th case, and it was shown Thursday night on HLN.
Bryan Dos Santos Gomes was 28 days old when he was last seen by family in Fort Myers, Florida, on December 1, 2006.
On that day, a woman came to a bus stop and asked two young mothers with their infants for directions. The woman said she was from out of town, lost and was trying to get to a relative’s home to get her baby.
The mothers gave her directions and boarded their bus. When they got off they were greeted by the same woman.
This time she wanted the mothers to show her the way to her destination. The woman pleaded with them, even offering money. The mothers, cautious at first, eventually agreed to get in the vehicle after seeing a baby seat in the back.
At the end of the drive, the woman pulled a knife and demanded that one of them leave her baby.
Watch Nancy Grace Monday through Sunday starting at 8 p.m. ET on HLN. For the latest from Nancy Grace click here
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 33rd case, and it will be shown Wednesday night on HLN.
Johnny Gosch had been on the job as a Des Moines Register paperboy in Iowa for a year when he disappeared on September 5, 1982. The 12-year-old was last seen picking up newspapers at the paper drop, but those papers never made it to customers' doorsteps. It was not until people along his route called to complain of undelivered papers that people realized something was wrong.
Gosch's case went on to be one of the most publicized in Iowa of its time. But after 28 years, Johnny has yet to come home.
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 32nd case, and it will be shown Tuesday night on HLN.
It's been more than two years since 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings was last seen alive in Satsuma, Florida. Since then, her family has gone through a marriage, a divorce and drug arrests, but there is still no sign of the little girl who was last seen by her babysitter-turned-stepmother, Misty Croslin, on February 9, 2009.
At the time Haleigh went missing, Croslin was living in the family's mobile home with her then-boyfriend, Ronald Cummings, Haleigh and her 4-year-old brother. Croslin told police that Haleigh was snatched from the trailer in middle of the night while she slept.
Investigators have said physical evidence contradicts Croslin's account of the events that night but have stopped short of charging her in the girl's death. Today, Croslin is in prison after being sentenced to 25 years on drug-related charges involving the trafficking of prescription narcotics, including oxycodone and hydrocodone. She continues to maintain her innocence. Haleigh's father will serve 15 years in prison and was fined $250,000 for selling prescription drugs. The two married after Haleigh's disappearance and divorced soon afterward.
Meanwhile, police continue to search for clues in Haleigh's disappearance.
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 31st case, and it was shown Monday night on HLN.
Jacob Wetterling's family has not seen him since he was abducted at gunpoint in St. Joseph, Minnesota, in October 1989. He was 11.
His brother and his best friend witnessed the abduction, according to his mother, Patty Wetterling.
After Jacob's abduction, Patty Wetterling became an advocate for families of missing children, helping to build Team HOPE (Help Offering Parents Empowerment), a parent-to-parent mentoring program. She also headed the sexual violence prevention program at the Minnesota Department of Health in St. Paul.
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 30th case, and it will be shown Friday at 9 p.m. on HLN.
The morning of May 4, 2007, Kara Kopetsky decided to walk to school in Belton, Missouri, instead of having her mom drive her. Later that morning, she called her mom and asked her to bring a book for one of her classes that she had forgotten at home. She also asked her mom to wash her work clothes because she had to work after school. Her mother dropped off the book, and Kara retrieved it. But what happened next remains a mystery.
Kara did not come home from school and did not show up for work. The last call on her cell phone was about 10:30 a.m. Since then, police say, the cell phone has been shut off or the battery has run down. There has been no activity on her bank account, and nothing is missing from her house.
Someone reported seeing Kara on May 17 at a gas station in Louisburg, Kansas, with an unidentified man, but the sighting could not be confirmed because the video surveillance system was not working. Since then, the trail has run cold. An $80,000 reward has been offered for information leading to her whereabouts.
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 29th case, and it will be shown Thursday at 9 p.m. on HLN.
Authorities say Tracy Ocasio (pictured) disappeared after a surveillance camera recorded her leaving an Orlando, Florida, bar with a man in late May 2009.
Her car was found abandoned the next afternoon about 200 yards from the home of the man, James Hataway, who told investigators she had driven him home and then left, according to police.
Ocasio's purse was in the car; her key, cell phone and identification were not found.
Ocasio, 27 at the time, met Hataway a week before.
Police said Hataway is a suspect, but has not been charged, in Ocasio’s disappearance. He is charged in an unrelated attempted-murder case.
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