Missing: Families, loved ones still looking for answers

Missing with Marni Hughes takes you behind the headlines, investigating missing person cases from across the country. Every missing person matters regardless of their background, circumstances, race, religion or past. Some of the stories we cover are urgent, while others are decades old. What they all share is the search for answers for families, friends, and entire communities. Many of the cases we cover come from you. If there’s a case you think we should look into, click here to let us know .

( NewsNation ) — Over the past three years, NewsNation’s “Missing” series has delved into the cases of 150 people who have gone missing, taking viewers on journeys of mystery and hope that, in some cases, continues to provide more questions than answers.

Many of the stories, however, have resulted in happy reunions thanks to tips provided by ordinary people and the work of dedicated police officers and investigators.

September marks the three-year anniversary of NewsNation’s “Missing” series. NewsNation will feature a one-hour special dedicated to the cases highlighted by this series at 9 p.m. EST on Saturday, Sept. 28. To find out how to watch, go to JoinNN.com .

The stories of both those found and still missing have been told by the loved ones of those who disappeared. Friends and family members have spoken with NewsNation, hoping to shed additional light on cases they felt were not given enough attention by media outlets and law enforcement agencies.

In each case, however, NewsNation has remained committed to covering each case the same, regardless of the person’s gender, race, background or life story.

What began as a television special inspired by the disappearance of Gabby Petito — whose life was cut short after she vanished on a cross-country trip — has continued for three years with the cases of others who have disappeared or gone missing.

Most of the stories highlighted during weekly “Missing” television segments have come from suggestions submitted by viewers. Because of those tips, NewsNation has been able to help solve cases.

But in some instances, some of those who disappeared remain missing, creating the need for their names and faces to remain in the spotlight as the search for them continues.

Disappearance of Chance Englebert

Chance Engelbert went missing in July 2019 during a Nebraska rainstorm, but the details behind the disappearance of the Wyoming cowboy, father and husband have never added up.

Englebert left his wife’s grandparents’ home on foot after an argument with relatives began on a golf course over the 25-year-old making less money at a new job than he had in the past.

For years, his family has relied on surveillance footage that they believed explained his disappearance. But new leads in the case could provide answers about whether Englebert’s disappearance was an accident or the result of a crime.

The footage shows Englebert walking through town in Gerrig, Nebraska, glancing at his phone as if he were looking at a map. He then makes a 90-degree turn.

Asked by NewsNation what she sees in the video, Englebert’s mother, Dawn replies, “I see a kid that had a mission, and he knew he wanted out of town.”

She added: “I see the video, him walking down the street on a surveillance camera and I replay that every day, thinking I’m going to figure out where and why, but nothing’s coming yet.”

Tionda and Diamond Bradley’s family holds out hope

More than 20 years have passed since Tionda and Diamond Bradley , two sisters from Chicago, disappeared, sparking what local law enforcement officials refer to as the biggest manhunt in the city police department’s history.

The girls’ mother returned home around 11 p.m. after work to find her daughters not there.

The girls, ages 10 and 3 at the time, left a note at their mother’s, saying they were headed to the store and then a park, but haven’t been seen since.

The family maintains that the note the girls left before leaving seemed “off.” Instead, they say that Tionda would have called her mother’s cell phone.

Police launched a massive search for the girls, looking for them by air, water and land. Canine units searched through empty lots and more than 5,000 abandoned buildings.

Since then, the girls’ families have endured a roller coaster of false sightings and hoaxes . Each year, the family holds a vigil for the two sisters, holding out hope that they will be found.

Given all they have endured since the two sisters vanished, remaining hopeful remains difficult at times.

“Just because it’s a cold case, it shouldn’t be a forgotten case,” Sheila Bradley-Smith, the girls’ great aunt told NewsNation.

Jason Landry went missing on his way home for Christmas

Nearly four years have passed since Jason Landry went missing in Texas while he was driving home from college for Christmas break.

Investigators found Landry’s car abandoned along a highway, which didn’t add up to the college student’s family.

His father, Kent — a former defense attorney turned pastor — received the call in the middle of the night and immediately drove to the scene where his son’s car was found. Jason Landry’s keys and wallet were inside the car, but Landry was gone.

“I’ve been to plenty of crime scenes, and I was expecting police and searchers and there was no one,” he told NewsNation.

In the years since, Landry’s family has wondered why the police haven’t taken a more aggressive approach to the case.

Prisma Reyes’ disappearance mystery continues

When Prisma Reyes , a 26-year-old Texas mom went missing in 2019, she already wasn’t having a good day.

Police say that Reyes argued with someone at work, which led to an extended lunch of drinking and then a violent altercation with another driver. She then went to her ex-boyfriend’s apartment complex but was never seen again.

Surveillance video captured Reyes stumbling around while waiting for an elevator inside the apartment complex, investigators said.

Reyes’ babysitter called the police that day, saying the mother was more than two hours late to pick up her son. Not long after, Dallas Police found a Jeep Reyes had been driving that belonged to a man she had been reportedly seeing.

The investigation immediately turned to her ex-boyfriend. Reyes had dropped domestic violence charges against him years earlier.

But police said that Reyes’ ex-boyfriend wasn’t home when she showed up, and police say they can account for his whereabouts.

Since then, Reyes’ stepfather, Dan Fuchs, has made several visits to the apartment complex searching for clues.

Investigators say that Reyes, who worked several jobs, had reported to one of her bosses that she felt like she was being followed. Along with Reyes’ ex-boyfriend, police said that there was no evidence to suggest the man she was seeing had anything to do with her disappearance.

Police have also eliminated the father of Reyes’ son, who took off a month after the baby’s birth, police said.

That leaves the police and Reyes’ family with few answers. As difficult as that is, Fuchs says he is most concerned for Reyes’ young son.

“For me to know what happened to her but mostly for him?”, Fuchs said.  You know, so that way, you know, I can you know, if there’s if I’m on my deathbed, I can say well, hey, Dominic, you know, I’ve done everything I could do.”

Missing success stories

As the search for missing children and adults continues by investigators and family members alike, some cases have been successfully solved.

In 2021, a teenager who disappeared from Arkansas was later found in Chicago.

The teen from Gassville, Arkansas, disappeared Oct. 1 of that year after she left a note in her room that read, “I need to do this, so don’t look for me. I will be back and I will make you happy for me. I hope you know I love u.”

On Nov. 24, her story was featured on NewsNation’s “Missing” series . Two days later, her mother said she got a tip from a man who believed he’d interacted with the girl in Chicago.

She passed the tip on to U.S. Marshals, who found the teen “safe and unharmed,” but staying with a man in his 20s at his apartment.

Last year, a young girl from Arizona who vanished just before her 15th birthday and remained missing for four years was located safely hundreds of miles away in Montana.

The girl was found in a small town in Montana near the Canadian border, according to the Glendale, Arizona Police Dept.

Another young girl from California disappeared in 2023 and her family believed she was being trafficked. But thanks to police work and tips from the public, she was reunited with her family.

These stories are why NewsNation remains committed to looking into these cases, fueling the search for clues and answers. While each of the stories is different, the care given in NewsNation’s coverage remains the same because of the belief that every missing person matters.

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