Missing Missourians

The holidays are a time for families to reunite, but for close to 1,000 families in Missouri, they will be waiting and wondering if a loved one will be coming to Christmas dinner. Right now, according to Missouri Highway Patrol statistics, there are just about 940 missing person cases in the state.

Marianne Asher-Chapman runs an organization called Missouri Missing. It’s a support group for families with missing persons. This year, she handmade close to 150 ornaments with the names of missing people on them. She’s taking request to make even more. She hopes the tree will help gain attention to help us all to not forgot those that are missing.

Her daughter Angie Yarnell has been missing since 2003. In 2009, Michael Yarnel plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection to Angies’s death. Her remains have never been found.

“It’s like she’s not dead, she’s not alive, she’s just gone, just gone,” said Chapman.

Every certified hunter in the state, 16 and up, has had to go through a hunter education program through the Department of Conservation.

In these courses, hunters are taught to be aware of their surroundings and if they see something strange, contact authorities.

Deer hunters in Maries county found the body of Kinga Gillabrand.A dog walker found Brandi Matthews remains in Miller County.

The next time you see an official flyer for a missing person, share it on social media.

“The more people share it, the more people can see it,” says Sgt. Shawn Griggs of the Highway Patrol. Chapman says shares on her Missouri Missing’s facebook page has helped people be located.

“We just aim to never let our people be forgotten, we keep awareness out there, we keep hope,” says Asher-Chapman

Here is the link to Missing Missouri’s facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/MissouriMissing/?fref=ts