Chapter 4

Rhonda and I went to church Sunday morning to find Laura not there. When she didn't answer her phone, we went by her apartment. We saw her car there. Rhonda used her key to open Laura's apartment door. We couldn't open it to get inside because the safety chain was set. We knocked next door and a young couple came to the door. He helped us break in with a coat hanger on the safety chain. We had met them once before so he had no hesitation about helping. Rhonda went to Laura's room and knocked lightly. The door swung open. Her bed was empty. I looked at her bed and it looked slept in. Karen went into the bedroom and nosed around.

She said, "Her phone and keys are here. Her sleep clothes are in the bed under the covers. Joe, I'm worried."

I said, "I am, too. I'm going to call the police."

I did and the person answering agreed that one of their patrolmen would come by and take a statement.

It was almost an hour later when Officer Joe Hoskins knocked on the front door. I let him inside. I said, "Officer, our daughter lives here and it appears she came home last night. My wife and I missed her at church and came here. My wife says her phone and keys are in the bedroom. Further, she said that Laura's bed clothes are under the sheets. We don't know what to do. Laura is a great person. She teaches high school math and coaches volleyball. She is a very happy, together person."

He looked at us and asked, "Nothing like this ever before?"

Rhonda said, "No, sir. She's a great one for staying in touch."

The next door neighbors were there and the wife said, "She has watched our baby. Laura is totally trustworthy and competent."

Her husband said, "She's a tall woman and strong. She helped us when we moved in and was better than Liz in helping me with larger items. We've had her over for dinner a number of times. She plays volleyball in a private league and is a star player.

"I have friends who were interested in dating her because she is such a neat person. She has always been polite but none of them ever went further with her."

His wife said, "She told me that they were nice but just not the right guy."

I said, "Officer, what happens now?"

He said, "It's troubling. Usually, there would be some suggestion of an issue. However, you had to break in to her apartment. Setting the chains is not something that can be accomplished easily. Also, I don't know of any woman who would leave on her own and leave her purse. Everything is here. It's like she vanished into thin air from within the apartment. That will be my report. Where it goes from there without any leads, I'm not sure. Honestly, I wouldn't know where to look or who to look at simply because there appears to be no foul play involved." He left with us looking at each other. Finally, Rhonda said, "I'm going to call the kids. We should have done that earlier." I nodded and she began to call our other two children. Our son and other daughter were both married and all four wanted to know what to do. We couldn't give them any ideas. We went home and called for pizza that neither of us really wanted. It wasn't a comment on the pizza but on our emotional state.

Rhonda didn't work and I took a week off. A pair of sisters came by. Their brother had also vanished. They had pictures and he looked to be a nice man about the same age as Laura. The younger sister said, "I hope they meet."

I realized that he looked like someone our daughter would like. I decided that I agreed. I wanted my daughter to be alive and happy. I missed her but her happiness was more important than her mother and I seeing her again.

After another two weeks, I talked to an attorney who advised me what other people were doing in the similar circumstances. I gave him a check and he included Laura's vanishing with the others his firm was handling in Cobb County. It took some months for everything to be completed but, in the end, Laura and the others were deemed deceased and their estates probated. Laura's school dedicated a number of items to her during the school year including a region winning season for the girls volleyball team. Early the next summer, everything was closed out. The saddest thing that I ever did was to close her estate. It meant that she would only live in the memories of people from now on. I received a letter from the younger sister of Brian Childers saying that she and her sister would be in prayer for Laura and all other vanished persons. I talked to Rhonda and we spent time in prayer that day also.

I prayed that God would watch over Laura wherever she might be and protect her and give her happiness there.