Read Online The Last Place You'd Look by Carole Moore - Free Book Online Page A

(www.shawnhornbeckfoundation.com), the Potts family and volunteers, along with the Missouri Water Patrol, searched the banks of the Missouri River, as well as the water. Robin says the river was dragged, but nothing—not even a footprint—was found.
    Today, the Potts family worries and wonders what happened that night. They remain unimpressed by the efforts of law enforcement agencies.
    For every family like the Potts or the Fingers who comes away from their experience with little faith in their police, there are those who report better rapport. Christy Davis says that although her son remains missing, she believes the police are sincere in their efforts to locate him.
    Austin Davis was born on April 24, 1981, and disappeared on June 26, 2007, in Jacksonville, Florida. His dimpled smile, which gives him an almost cherubic appearance, did not reflect his frame of mind when he disappeared, according to his mom. Christy says that before he vanished Austin had suffered some personal difficulties that “left him depressed and looking for direction.”
    On the last day Austin was known to be in Jacksonville, he asked his boss for a day off and was approved for leave on June 25. But on June 26, his employer reported that he did not show up for work nor did he call in. All attempts to reach Austin proved unsuccessful.
    His family was notified and they called the police. Christy says, “We were fortunate in that law enforcement was very responsive.”
    An investigation revealed that Austin had gone to a local Walmart, purchased shells for a shotgun, and then walked to a pawnshop, where he bought the shotgun itself. Austin was last seen walking down the street with the shotgun’s muzzle protruding from a duffle bag he carried. An inspection of his apartment revealed that he left his backpack and laptop computer behind, something Christy says is out of character for her son.
    “He didn’t go anywhere without taking those things,” she says.
    Years have now passed and no sign of Austin has ever been found. Christy says his last paycheck was neither collected nor cashed. The family fears the worst, but also hopes for the best. They want Austin to come home and have tried to keep his name in the news. Christy says an encounter with someone who told her that Austin’s story was “boring” made her realize that not all missing persons are equal.
    “What about all those families that have a story to tell that may not be interesting to anyone but their family, the stories that don’t get you on the edge of your seat . . . aren’t these ‘lost’ stories just as important?” she asks.
    Christy rates law enforcement as more responsive than the media in her son’s case, although she believes they should have shared more of the investigative details with the family.
    “Our law enforcement experience is so much better than many stories I’ve heard from other families of missing persons where sometimes the family couldn’t even get [them] to take a report, but even so after an interview with the detective assigned to our case, he told me that their resources are limited and . . . the family would have to take up the slack,” she says.
    The Davis family has been searching for Austin since June 26, 2007. Christy says they won’t stop looking until they find him.
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    Two and a half decades ago, the Diaz family experienced the loss of their son and brother, Carlos. His disappearance has led them through a bitter lesson in the workings of bureaucracy.
    Brooklyn born and raised, Carlos was thirty-two at the time he vanished. The beloved family dog had died in his arms. Carlos left the house with the dog’s body, telling his family he would bury her. When he walked out the door, he also walked out of their lives. He has not been seen since.
    Carlos was struck in the head some time before his disappearance and doctors warned he could suffer from memory loss at some point. He had no identification on him at the time he vanished, says