Missing Boone County man’s family seeks answers 10 years later
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Wednesday marks 10 years since a Harrisburg man disappeared under suspicious circumstances.
Authorities have not found Charlie D. Bell's body, and his family says they still don't have answers to what happened.
Doris Boyce, Bell's mom, wakes up every day hoping and praying that her son will walk through her front door
" I really miss him, he's been gone a long time," Boyce said.
Bell was last seen on his motorcycle riding to Columbia and was reported missing after he didn't show up. The Boone County Sheriff’s Office considers his disappearance a homicide based on information from possible witnesses and the evidence investigators found.
Boyce said that although Boone County Sheriff's office attempted to solve the case, she is still not satisfied with the search for her missing son.
"I think they missed out on a lot of opportunities searching for him and going about the things that they did," Boyce said
In 2014, Jennifer Freeman took investigators to Bell's home on Route E in Boone County, where she said she witnessed someone shoot Bell in the garage. She admitted to cleaning up the blood left behind.
In Oct. 2015, Freeman pleaded guilty to evidence tampering. Judge Kevin Crane sentenced her to six years in prison.
Patrick Curl pleaded guilty in July to taking the license plate off Bell’s motorcycle. He received a three-year prison sentence for evidence tampering.
Although both Curl and Freeman have been convicted of charges related to Bell's case, no one has been convicted of alleged murder.
Bell's body has still not been found and Boyce is on a mission to find out what happened to her son on that day 10 years ago. "I think there's more possible leads out there…I really do. It just takes the right person to call in," Boyce said.
In 2016, his father, Charles E. Bell, filed a petition for a hearing to establish the presumption of death and apply for letters of administration. Five years after a person’s disappearance, an application can be filed for the letters of administration of the estate of “any person supposed to be dead,” court documents at the time revealed.
This would allow Charles E. Bell to execute his son's estate and care for his three daughters. Online court records indicated at the time that Charles D. Bell has not engaged in any financial transactions and has had no contact with family members or close friends. The request was granted.
At the time of Charles D. Bell's disappearance, Bell had approximately $1.2 million in both real and personal property.
Boyce said a $75,000 reward is being offered for anyone with information leading to a suspect in Bell's disappearance. She encourages anyone with information to call the Boone County Sheriff's Office.
ABC 17 News has reached out to the Boone County Sheriff's for comment and has yet
