After introductions were given at a prayer vigil today in Jackson for six missing people from Halifax and Northampton counties, family and friends spoke.
“It's been terrible,” said Lola Robinson, the mother of Shawn Alston, who has been missing since 2012. “We need help. I need to find my son.”
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The ones who she believes know something about her son's disappearance are at a standstill in their lives, she said, while her son was ready to start a new job before his disappearance. “I just ask the Lord to put it in their hearts, “ to let someone know, even if it isn't the police. “I need to give him a proper burial.”
She said the ones she believes know something treated him like a dog. “He's not a dog. He's my son. He's a human being. He had a job he was getting ready to start.”
Robinson said it is heart-wrenching “when you don't have your kids. We need to put something in place. I ask you all to pray for me. I may not be tough, but I'm here.”
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Robert Moore Jr., whose father has been missing since 1996 said, “Our hearts are heavy. I appreciate my family being here with me. I appreciate the NAACP. I don't feel I'm alone.”
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Jackie Stansbury, the sister of Shonda Stansbury, who has been missing since 2006, choked back tears as she talked about her sister. “The last words she said to me were, 'I love you, sissy.' We still have no answers. We're still getting phone calls from her kids asking where's mamma. I have no answer to give them.”
Jackie said, “My family and I should not have to endure the pain of not knowing where our loved one is.”
Shonda was 24 when she disappeared, Jackie said, the mother of four children. “My mom, my dad, everyone, deserves answers, especially those four children.”
Jackie said her sister needs to be brought home, to have “a resting place.”
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Kim Wallace spoke on behalf of the family of Amy Bridgeman, who has been missing since 2013.
While not hitting it off with her when they first met, Wallace said she learned to love her. “Amy was a kindhearted person, If she had $20 she would give it to you. She has a 21-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter. Her parents love her and miss her. She has a 13-year-old poodle she gave a birthday party. She might have left her husband but she wouldn't leave her dog.”
Bridgeman went to the cosmetology school at Halifax Community College where if she wasn't on the president's list, she was on the dean's list.
Now there is worry, Wallace said. “We don't know if she's cold, hungry or laying in a ditch waiting to be found. Everyone deserves to come so we can tell them goodbyes.”
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Michael Hines spoke on behalf of the family of Jalesa Reynolds, who has been missing for five years after she was last seen at the Scotland Neck Library. “It's painful to know we have no answers. We appreciate everyone remembering her. We need closure. We get up to go to our jobs and schools and never think we're never going to see that person again.”
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Sheila Moses spoke about her brother Daniel Moses who has been missing since 2011.
“Daniel is not missing,” Sheila said. “Daniel was taken, June 16, 2011, a normal day. Our lives will never be the same.”
Moses said there are people who know what happened. “We know what happened,” she said, explaining there were relatives of the person who knows what happened in the room. “I will be there when they sentence you to life. We want justice and we want it now. Our train is off the track.”
