Four years ago, Aretha Miller’s pregnant sister and a mother of two, Cheretha Morrison, dropped her daughter off at school. She was seen for the last time driving about two blocks away before she went missing.
Miller was among a crowd of people who have missing loved ones at the fifth Cook County Missing Persons Day, which first started in 2017 as a way to streamline the process of getting information to law enforcement about missing people.
It was her first time at the event, where she planned to speak with officials about what else she could do to assist in the search for her sister.
“Me and my family need closure,” Miller said. “Whether it’s good or bad news. … You’ve gotta be strong to go through this [process]. I’m really hoping that this year we get some closure.”
The event is hosted by the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, Chicago Police Department and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, the latter of which held the event at its Near West Side office.
It serves as a source of community and support for families whose loved ones are still missing, as well as a way to make creating a missing person’s report more accessible. Attendees could provide DNA samples and information about their loved ones for entry into a national database, as well as file a police report if their relative had been missing for more than a month.
Law enforcement representatives sit at their tables ready to help families during the fifth Cook County Missing Persons Day at the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. The event first started in 2017 as a way to streamline the process of getting information to law enforcement about missing people.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Last year’s event, the first since they were paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ended up leading to answers for six families — four who found their loved one had died, and two who were reconnected with loved ones within a short period, according to Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar.
“Our goal is to assist families in locating their loved ones by being a centralized resource for those searching for missing relatives and friends,” Arunkumar said. “We’re hoping at least one family can get closure.”
This isn’t the only time the resources are accessible, as they are year-round between the various agencies, but it is the one time a year they’re available all together.
It’s also important for the cases to be refreshed, according to Cmdr. Jason Moran, a special victims unit investigator with the Cook County Sheriff’s office. He said doing so can give investigators more tools or ensure older cases still have a detective assigned to them.
“This event is about bringing these cases to a contemporary status, ensuring it’s active and everything that can be done is being done,” Moran said. “Sometimes the passage of time hurts cases.”
Of the 25,647 missing people nationwide, 462 of them — about 1.8% of the total — are from Illinois, meaning the community of folks who have missing loved ones is sometimes small, though the event also served to bring them together.
Miller said it’s been important for her to connect with other families who face the same situation because they can understand her pain in a way others can’t, making their connections stronger and their conversations more healing.
“Anyone can sympathize but unless you’re going through that, you really don’t know what it is to have the nightmares or anxiety when you think the police are calling,” Miller said. “You hear the other stories [of older cases], and I don’t think I could go through it that long, but they did and they survived it. They’re still hopeful. They tell me to keep my head up, they give me support. … You need that kind of stuff going through this.”
Kathy Teague holds up a hand-drawn portrait of her and her missing daughter Vinyette Teague, during the fifth Cook County Missing Persons Day at the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office on the Near West Side on Saturday. Vinyette, age 1 at the time, disappeared from the Robert Taylor Homes where Teague’s family and neighbors had been watching her June 25, 1983.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Among those families with longer cases is Kathy Teague, whose 18-month-old daughter Vinyette Teague disappeared from the Robert Taylor Homes where Teague’s family and neighbors had been watching her June 25, 1983.
“We stay in touch. We form a bond through the years,” Teague said of the families who are also looking for their missing loved ones. “It makes me feel good to know I’m not alone. … It’s a different hurt not knowing where your child is, if she’s dead or alive or someone’s mistreated her.”
It was Teague’s fourth time attending the event, and said while her daughter’s case remains open, being able to speak with experts and investigators who can help her through the process gives Teague and others the will to fight on.
“It gives us hope at the end of the day, with each year that goes by,” Teague said. “It gives me something to look forward to, knowing someone else out there cares about our missing children and loved ones. It makes me want to continue fighting.”
