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Eufaula mother still missing two years later, challenges in missing persons cases

Posted at 9:26 PM, Apr 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-28 22:26:17-04

EUFAULA, Okla. -- Hundreds of missing persons reports are filed each month and investigators work to give families a solution, but at times it can be difficult.

To this day some families are left without answers. One Eufaula mother hasn’t stopped searching for her daughter since Thanksgiving of 2015.

It’s the little things Betty Davis says she misses the most. "Holidays were always a big deal for us. We'd have a big dinner and it just isn't the same anymore."

Davis’s life stopped on November 16, 2015. "I always looked up to the law and always had a lot of respect for them. It's really changed my opinion about them."

She says she’s never gotten it back. "I miss my Peggy. She's missed out on a lot and my grandson."

To this day Davis still holds the poster in her hand. Posters she made nearly two years ago. It’s the only home she has in finding her missing daughter, Peggy McGuire.

"No one's heard from her, seen her, or nothing since that day."

The 28-year-old went missing right before Thanksgiving. Her mother claims it wasn’t long after dropping her son off at school.

Davis tried calling and texting her daughter, but got no answers. Her phone still hasn’t been found.

"I don't think she's still alive. Peggy had no reason to leave her family or son."

Surveillance video captured McGuire’s truck driving into the parking lot of J’s Ice House not far from her house.

In the video, a figure can be seen getting out of the truck and walking away.

"It took better than three weeks for OSBI to get in here and eight days later they had the search warrant and went out to her house,” said Davis.

Documents released by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation say blood-like stains were found on the couch and back porch inside the home McGuire shared with her child’s father, Thomas McIntosh.

Investigators took the stains of blood from the bucket of a front loading tractor.

Records show a leather glove was found in McIntosh’s truck with red stains on it.

"We're going to find out what happened to Peggy,” said Davis.

Bridging the Gap helped with the search. "We've been back another four and five times on our own because we just can't let it go,” said Julie Pendley, Bridging the Gap Executive Director.

Since starting the non-profit in 2015, Pendley says the search group has had more than 63 cases. Out of those cases, nine have been found deceased and fine found alive.

Around 25 individuals came home after their story made it onto the news.

"One thing that I see the most with families is they want to be able to let go but they can't,” said Pendley.

Not every case has an ending and some cases are left open for years.

That’s where Sergeant John Adams with the Tulsa Police Department comes in.

"We just closed a case that had been open for three years,” said Sgt. Adams.

Sgt. Adams handles missing children cases for the city. He says surprisingly, numbers have been down.

“In 2015, 111. In 2016, we averaged 77. So there is big drop off there and so far this year, we are averaging 58 runaways a month,” said Sgt. Adams.

No matter the age, it’s important to be observant. "We have to rely on the parent to have information,” said Sgt. Adams.

But Davis was involved and spoke with her daughter daily and she’s still missing. This November will mark two years. "She always smiled,” said Davis.

Davis is determined Peggy’s body will be found. Then she says she’s leaving her water tower town. "The reward that's up, that's me selling my home."

The grieving mother holds the white posters close, some of the only pictures she has left, and begs someone, anyone to come forward.

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