MUSKOGEE, Okla. — Lacressa McChurin was only an infant when police said her 16-year-old mother, Jamie, disappeared from a home in Muskogee never to be heard from again.
"It's really sad because the earliest memories that I have were of, that she was around her friends when this happened," said McChurin.
It was March 18, 1997, and Muskogee police said Jamie went to visit some friends after work at a house near the intersection of F and Elmira streets.
Investigators said it was the last location that Jamie was seen alive and they weren't able to get a lot of information from witnesses about what happened.
"Jamie stayed on the front porch and her friends went back inside the house and whenever they came back out, Jamie was gone. The only thing they saw in the area was a dark colored sedan and they couldn't really describe if it sped off or not, it was just in the area and Jamie was no longer there," said Muskogee Police Sgt. Dillon Swaim.
Swaim said despite the lack of evidence in this case, investigators are positive Jamie was taken against her will and most likely killed.
"It was apparent right off the bat that foul play was involved. There were many, many rumors surrounding her disappearance and that happened right off the bat," said Swaim.
With her mother gone, McChurin was raised by her grandparents.
"I remember my grandparents, when they talk about it, they get choked up. It just tears them up to this day and my grandpa, he is actually in a nursing home right now, they said he has the beginnings of Alzheimer's, and he will wake up and say, 'I have to go help Jamie,'" said McChurin.
She said growing up without a mother became more apparent as she got older.
"I always wished that I had a mom because all of my friends had moms and like everybody has a mom you know, but then after I had kids, it made me sadder for my grandparents," she said.
Now, she's a mother to her own three beautiful, children and McChurin said she can empathize so much more with her grandmother and the pain she's had to endure.
"I couldn't imagine losing one of mine and I couldn't imagine even having to see those people to this day that were involved," said McChurin.
Muskogee police have a theory regarding a possible motive in Jamie's case.
"The running theory was that a neighbor in the area was possibly having an affair and Jamie knew about it and that's why Jamie is no longer here," said Swaim.
Jamie's body has never been found, leaving the hole in her family's heart that much bigger.
"I believe if they had somewhere that they could go and you know pay respects to her and even decorate, just so they had something to try and fill that void for all of these years they didn't have anything," said McChurin.
If you have any information on the death of Jamie McChurin, you can contact the Muskogee Police Department at 918-683-8000.
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