The rally stop for Patti Krieger was held outside of a Tire store, with friends and family lined up along the road holding up signs and posters for passing motorists to see. I've participated in events like this, when we hold our "Cars Held Hostage" campaign protests, but I don't recall seeing it used on the tour before. As we pull into the lot the first sign I encounter boldly states in capital letters "STILL MISSING".
Patti was 65 years old when she vanished from Sauk Mountain on 10-2-10. An inexperienced hiker, she was there with 5 other people and her dog to scatter the ashes of her then boyfriend's deceased parents. The individuals on the mountain with her state that she became emotional after the ceremony and wondered off alone with her Rottweiler. The group believed that the trail she had taken would reconnect with the trail that they were on but Patti was never seen again. All her personal effects were with the group and it is unclear if she had any personal belongings in her possession went she disappeared. Search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched but no clues to Patti's whereabouts were ever found. About a month later her underweight and malnourished dog was found near the mountain.
Before embarking on the tour, I start a notebook, and research all the missing and the circumstances of their disappearance. It only gives me a small snapshot of the person but it's just supposed to be a starting point. At rally's, I enjoy talking to the families and learning all about their missing loved one. Sometimes it's stories of their lives and what kind of person they are, other times it's stories about their disappearance. On one side I know from first hand experience that families have knowledge, that they know their missing person the best, and that their thoughts and opinions should be taken seriously. I've also seen the other side, though, when someone close looks guilty for a variety of reasons and then it turns out they had nothing to do with it..I understand this family's reasoning, and hope that they can get resolution. Patti's son, Alan Patterson, has been upfront in his opinions and in expressing his desire for answers. Her brother and sister have also been vocal with their frustrations. It's been close to 2 years, they want peace, they want clues, they want Patti...
Ruth Sine was also at this rally stop, her son Bobby went missing 2-6-12. He is 18 years old... Another of those cases closest to my heart, another fresh case, another mother in the early stages of the missing. Bobby was last seen near the riverfront and boardwalk by the Skagit River in Mount Vernon. Ruth commented that you can never understand or "Get it", until it happens to you... about passing his empty bedroom night after night..Her grief reaches into my soul...
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