Living in a downtown dormitory, I still recall the night when the fliers stating she was missing went up on the walls in the hallways. Looking at them, my friends and I shrugged the whole situation off as just being another kid leaving town for the weekend and not letting their parents know their plans.
Ten years later, we still don’t know what happened to Suzanne. Her parents, Douglas and Mary, are struggling with not knowing and they may be for the rest of their lives.
As a journalist, certain stories really get to you. When I had our reporter, Mike Ryan, and our photographer, Mark Bolles, get in touch with the Lyalls for this week’s cover story, I knew that the family would be more than accommodating to them. The Lyalls invited both into their home Wednesday afternoon.
Mark came into the office Thursday morning obviously choked up a bit about the whole thing.
The Lyalls gave him access to many of Suzanne’s personal items and the section of her room that remains unchanged to this day.
Mark noted that like the photos of Suzanne that appear in this paper, the eyes of her parents light up when talking about her. As evidenced by their foundation, The Center for Hope, the Lyalls are not about to give up on the belief that one day all the questions about Suzanne will be answered.
The Lyalls continue to be an inspiration not just to other families of missing children and loved ones, but the entire local community.
Though I do plan on having children some day, it’s hard for me to even fathom what it must be like to wake up every day with so much uncertainty. On the surface, it would seem that time would make things easier, but I imagine these are wounds that won’t heal until there truly is closure.
I think back to my state of mind in 1998 with the whole world in front of me. It feels like a long time ago, but I’m sure in a way, the Lyalls are still stuck there.
Main Menu
Leave a comment