June 25, 2026

S2 Ep28: The Disappearance Of Betty Alexander

S2 Ep28: The Disappearance Of Betty Alexander
S2 Ep28: The Disappearance Of Betty Alexander
Among Monsters Podcast | Chilling True Crime
S2 Ep28: The Disappearance Of Betty Alexander
In April 2019, 69-year-old Betty Alexander disappeared from her senior apartment in Sullivan, Missouri, leaving behind her purse, glasses, medication, and every sign of her daily routine. Despite extensive searches and years of investigation, no trace of Betty has ever been found. In this episode of Among Monsters, we examine the documented facts, the unanswered questions, and the family still searching for the truth.
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Sullivan, Missouri, a quiet town tucked between rolling hills and

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dense forests, the kind of place where neighbors wave from

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their porches, the kind of place where people know your name,

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the kind of place where a person should not simply disappear.

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But in April of twenty nineteen, that is exactly what happened.

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Sixty nine year old Betty Alexander was living a quiet life.

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She wasn't a traveler, She wasn't someone who vanished for

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days at a time. She didn't drive, she didn't own

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a cell phone. She relied heavily on family members who

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checked on her constantly. And then one morning, she was gone.

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No note, no goodbye, no signs of a planned departure.

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Her purse remained behind, Unification remained behind, her glasses remained behind,

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her medications remained behind. Even the money hidden inside her

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purse remained untouched. It was as though Betty Alexander simply

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vanished into thin air. Investigators searched, volunteers searched family members,

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searched the woods, the fields, the roads, the waterways. Nothing

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no confirmed sightings, no physical evidence, no answers. Years later,

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the mystery remains unsolved. What happened to Betty Alexander. Did

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a woman suffering from the early stages of dementia wander

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away and somehow evade one of the largest searches the

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community had ever seen, Or did something much darker happen

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inside a quiet Missouri town. Tonight we examine one of

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Missouri's most haunting missing persons cases, a disappearance that continues

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to leave investigators, family members, in an entire community searching

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for answers. This is the story of Betty Alexander, and

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this is among Monsters. Welcome to Among Monsters, I'm Maya Hanson.

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Every week we step into cases that refuse to fade

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into history. Some involve killers whose names become infamous. Others

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involve people who simply disappeared, leaving behind unanswered questions that

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grow heavier with every passing year. Tonight's story is different.

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There is no crime scene, no confession, no arrest, no body,

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no answers. Instead, there is an empty apartment, a family

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still waiting, and one simple question that has haunted a

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Missouri community since the spring of twenty nineteen. Where is

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Betty Alexander? Sometimes the most frightening monster isn't someone hiding

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in the shadows sometimes it's the silence that follows when

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someone vanishes without a trace. Sullivan, Missouri, a community where

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people recognize familiar faces at the grocery store, where church

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on Sunday is still part of many families weekly routine,

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where neighbors notice when something feels different. In April twenty nineteen,

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sixty nine year old Betty Alexander was living alone in

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a senior apartment complex in Sullivan after the death of

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her husband. Despite the difficult loss, those who knew her

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said she remained closely connected to her family and looked

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forward to spending time with her children and grandchildren. Betty

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was beginning to experience the early stages of dementia. It

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was serious enough that her family checked on her frequently

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and helped her manage medications, but according to her daughter,

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it had not progressed to the point where they believed

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she would simply wander away and disappear. Her life followed routines,

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morning medications, meals, gardening, phone calls, church, family visits. Routine

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is comforting, routine is predictable, and when routine suddenly stops,

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people notice. On April tenth, twenty nineteen, Betty spent part

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of the afternoon outside tending to her flowers. A neighbor

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later recalled seeing her gardening, and nothing appeared unusual. She

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seemed to be going about another ordinary spring day. No

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one reported seeing her upset, no one reported an argument,

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no one reported suspicious activity as evening approached. Investigators later

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concluded that Betty likely took her schedule seven pm medication

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because that dose was missing from her home, but the

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medication she should have taken the following morning remained untouched.

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Investigators believed she disappeared sometime after seven pm on April

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tenth and before the morning of April eleventh. That timeline

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would become one of the biggest clues in the entire case.

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Somewhere inside those overnight hours, Betty vanished, and no one

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knows exactly when or why. The next morning, something wasn't right.

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Betty wasn't answering, she wasn't where she was expected to be.

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As concern grew, family members went to check on her apartment.

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What they found made the mystery even deeper. Inside, nothing

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looked like someone preparing to leave for a trip. Her

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purse remained, money was still inside, her identification hadn't been taken,

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her glasses were left behind, even though she depended on them.

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Most of her meta vdcation was still there. There was

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no indication she had packed belongings or planned to be away.

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For investigators, these details mattered. People planning to disappear usually

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take essentials. Betty appeared to have taken almost nothing, and

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yet she was nowhere to be found. Family members immediately

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knew this wasn't like her. Betty loved seeing her grandchildren.

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She kept regular contact with those closest to her. She

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wasn't someone who simply vanished without telling anyone. Days turned

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into hours of frantic searching. Police were notified, volunteers gathered.

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The community that knew Betty began looking everywhere they could imagine, roads, fields,

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wooded areas, drainage ditches, creeks, anywhere a confused person might

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have wandered. Hope remained high during those first critical hours.

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Many believed Betty would be found sitting somewhere, tired and disoriented. Instead,

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the searchers produced almost nothing. No clothing, no footprints, no

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personal belongings, no confirmed sightings, just questions, questions that years

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later still have no answers. When someone disappears without taking

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their glasses, without taking their wallet without taking the medication

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they rely on. Investigators began asking a different question. Did

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Betty Alexander leave on her own? Or did someone make

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sure she never came home. When someone disappears, investigators often

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have one advantage. Time. The first few hours can be

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the difference between finding someone alive or watching a trail

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slowly disappear forever. In Betty Alexander's case, that clock was

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already ticking. No one knew the exact moment she had vanished,

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only that some time after taking her evening medication on

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April tenth, twenty nineteen, she was no longer inside her apartment.

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By the time family realized something was wrong, daylight had

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returned to Sullivan. Whatever had happened had already happened. Law

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enforcement immediately began gathering information. The first question was simple.

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Was Betty capable of leaving on her own? Her family

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described her as being in the early stages of dementia.

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She sometimes became confused, she occasionally forgot things, but she

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still recognized family, She still carried on conversations. She still

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enjoyed tending to her flowers and spending time with those

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she loved. According to the investigators and her family. She

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was not known to simply wander away for long periods

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or disappear without contacting someone. That distinction mattered. Early stage

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dementia can affect memory and judgment. It can also increase

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the risk of wandering, but every person experiences the disease differently.

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For Betty's family, this wasn't behavior that fit the woman

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they knew. Investigators carefully examined her apartment. There were no

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obvious signs of a struggle. Furniture appeared normal, nothing suggested

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a violent confrontation had taken place inside. There was no

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indication that someone had ransacked her home. Equally important, there

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was no evidence Betty had packed for an overnight trip.

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Her purse remained, cash remained, identification remained, prescription medication remained,

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Her glasses remained behind. Investigators also noted that Betty did

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not own or regularly use a cell phone, eliminating one

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of the most common ways investigator's track a missing persons movements. Today,

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Without digital breadcrumbs, the search became much harder. Officers quickly

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expanded the search beyond Betty's apartment complex. Neighbors were interviewed.

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Had anyone seen Betty walking? Did anyone hear unusual noises overnight?

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Did anyone notice unfamiliar vehicles? Memory can be an unreliable thing,

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especially after people learn someone has disappeared. Small details suddenly

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seem important. A vehicle that looked ordinary yesterday now feel suspicious.

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A stranger who barely caught someone's attention becomes impossible to identify.

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Despite numerous interviews, investigators found no confirmed witness who could

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explain where Betty had gone. After that final evening, search

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teams began combing the surrounding area. Volunteers joined local law enforcement,

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search and rescue personnel worked methodically woodlines, creeks, fields, roadside ditches,

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vacant lots, areas where a confused person might naturally wander.

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Search dogs were brought in. Each scent, each possible clue.

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Each report received careful attention. Every hour increased the urgency.

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If Betty had become injured, time was critical. If she

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had become disoriented, she might be unable to call for help.

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If she had sought shelter somewhere, she could still be alive.

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Hope drove every searcher forward. The terrain surrounding Sullivan complicated

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the effort. Dense vegetation rolling hills, rocky ground, creeks, and

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wooded areas stretched for miles outside of town. Even experienced

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searchers know how easily someone can disappear into rudgid terrain,

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and yet, despite extensive searches, nothing definitive was found. No clothing,

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no eyeglasses, no medication bottles, no purse discarded nearby, no

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physical evidence pointing investigators towards Betty's location. For many families,

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the hardest moment comes when the first organized searches end,

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because that's when reality begins setting in. The easy answers

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have disappeared. As days turned into weeks, investigators continued following tips.

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Every reported sighting had to be checked. Someone thought they

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saw Betty at a gas station. Another believed they'd seen

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an elderly woman walking near a highway. Others remembered seeing

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someone who resembled her in neighboring communities. Each report brought

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renewed hope. Each investigation ended the same way the sightings

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cannot be confirmed. False leads are common in missing person investigations.

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People genuinely want to help. They convince themselves they remember

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seeing the missing person. Unfortunately, memory isn't always accurate the

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case slowly expanded beyond Sullivan. Betty's information entered miss person databases,

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Her photographs circulated across Missouri. Law enforcement agencies shared her information.

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Organizations that specialize in missing person adults helped spread awareness.

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Her family continued speaking publicly. Every interview carried the same message,

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Please keep looking, Please don't forget Betty, because every day

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without answers was another day her loved ones lived in uncertainty.

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One question continued to trouble investigators. If Betty had wandered away,

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why hadn't searchers found even a single choice. Search and

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rescue teams often locate evidence a shoe, a jacket, eyeglasses, something.

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In Betty's case, there was almost nothing. That absence of

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evidence didn't automatically suggest foul play, but it also didn't eliminated.

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Investigators had to keep every reasonable possibility open. Did Betty

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become confused and travel farther than anyone expected, did someone

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offer her a ride? Did she encounter someone with bad intentions?

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Or was there another explanation nobody had yet considered. Each

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theory had strengths, Each theory also had serious weaknesses, and

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without physical evidence, none could be proven. As weeks became months,

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the search changed. No longer was it simply about finding

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a missing woman. It became a search for the truth.

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Because somewhere someone knows what happened to Betty Alexander. Whether

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that person is a witness, a stranger, or Betty herself,

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the answer has remained hidden for more than seven years.

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We'll examine the leading theories, the unanswered questionquestions, and why

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Betty Alexander's disappearance remains one of Missouri's most haunting unsolved

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missing person cases. As investigators moved further into Betty Alexander's disappearance,

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one reality became impossible to ignore. There was very little evidence,

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no confirmed sightings, no surveillance footage showing where she went,

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no phone records to trace, no vehicle movements to track,

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no digital trail, no digital trail, just a woman who

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appeared to vanish from her Sullivan apartment sometime during the

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night of April tenth, twenty nineteen. For investigators, that meant

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every possible explanation had to be examined. But it is

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important to remember something. A theory is not a fact,

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and in Betty's case, many of the questions that emerged

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over the years remain unanswered. This is one of the

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first possibilities considered. Betty was in the early stages of

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dementia at the time of her disappearance and required medication

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she no longer had access to after vanishing. People suffering

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from dementia can become disoriented. Sometimes they leave familiar surroundings.

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Sometimes they become confused about where they are or where

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they intend to go. Because of that reality, investigators and

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search teams focused heavily on the possibility that Betty had

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wandered away from her apartment. At first glance, it seemed possible,

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but there were problems, serious problems. According to information provided

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by her daughter, Betty did not drive, she was not

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known for taking long walks, she did not carry a

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cell phone, and she left behind her glasses, something she

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normally relied upon. Even more puzzling was the fact that

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extensive searches failed to locate any sign of her. No clothing,

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no personal belongings, no medical items, nothing. While it is

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certainly possible for a missing person to evade search efforts,

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investigators were left asking difficult questions. If Betty wandered away,

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where did she go and why has no trace of

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her ever been found. As months passed, another possibility emerged.

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What if Betty left the apartment willingly, not because she

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intended to disappear forever, but because someone offered her a ride.

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Investigators never publicly identified any evidence providing that happened. However,

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because Betty vanished without a trace, law enforcement couldnot completely

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dismiss the possibility that another person became involved at some

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point after she had left her apartment. This theory creates

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its own set of questions, who was the person, why

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has no witness came forward, and if someone did encounter

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Betty that night, was it an innocent interaction or something

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much darker. Years later, there are still no public answers.

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One detail has generated discussion among followers of the case.

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When Betty's daughter entered the apartment, she noticed what was

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described as a scratch on the glass portion of the

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screen door. Investigators have never publicly stated that mark was

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evidence of a crime. They have never announced it was

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connected to an intruder, nor have they indicated it was unrelated.

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The scratch remained simply that a detail, a detail that

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stood out because there were so few others. In many investigations,

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small observations become magnified when there is little evidence available.

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Whether that scratch means something significant or nothing at all

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remains unknown. Another fact that investigators noted involved Betty's medication.

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Authorities found that one of two tuo boxes of feentanyl

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patches delivered on April tenth was missing. The second box

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remained inside the apartment. The missing box immediately raised questions.

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Did Betty take it with her, was it removed by

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someone else? Did it have anything to do with her disappearance.

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Investigators have never publicly connected the missing medication to a

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suspect or announced any conclusion regarding its significance. Like many

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aspects of this case, it remains one more unanswered question.

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Then there was the cash. Inside Betty's purse were two

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envelopes containing one hundred dollars each two hundred dollars total.

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Her daughter reportedly stated she did not know where the

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money came from because she had been handling Betty's finances

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after the death of Betty's husband. Again, investigators never publicly

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stated that the money was evidence of criminal activity. It

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was unusual enough to attract attention. Why was it there?

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Who gave it to her? Had it been there for days, weeks, months,

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no public answers have emerged. One of the most frustrating

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realities of Betty Alexander's disappearance is that no single theory

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clearly explains all of the known facts. If she wandered away,

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why has nothing been found. If someone harmed her, where

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is the evidence? If she left voluntarily, why did she

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leave behind the items she depended on every day? Every

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possible explanation seems to answer some questions while creating new ones.

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That is often the hallmark of the most difficult missing

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person investigations, not a lack of theories a lack of proof.

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As months became years, the case gradually entered cold case territory,

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but Betty's family never stopped searching. Her information remained active

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missing person's databases. Her case continued to be shared through

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media coverage, advocacy organizations, and missing person awareness efforts. In

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twenty twenty four, five years after her disappearance, family members

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continued speaking publicly about their determination to find answers, and

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in twenty twenty five, renewed awareness efforts, including billboard campaigns,

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helped keep Betty's face visible to the public. Because for

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those who loved her, the passage of time changes nothing.

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The missing loved one remains missing. Every birthday matters, every

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holiday matters, Every unanswered year matters. Some mysteries are frightening

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because we know exactly what happened. Others are frightening because

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we don't. Betty Alexander left behind almost everything, her glasses,

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her purse, her identification, her keys, her medications, Yet somehow

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she disc appeared, and more than seven years later, no

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one has been able to explain how. When a murder

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investigation reaches a conclusion, there is often a courtroom, evidence

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is presented, a jury listens, a verdict is delivered. For

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the victims' families, there is at least the possibility of answers.

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But when someone simply disappears, there is no courtroom, no trial,

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no conviction, only uncertainty, and uncertainty can last a lifetime.

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For Betty Alexander's family, April twenty nineteen marked the beginning

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of a journey they never expected to take. Instead of

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planning family gatherings around birthdays and holidays, they found themselves

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organizing searches, speaking with investigators, and asking the public to

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keep looking. Every interview became another opportunity to remind people

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that Betty was more than a missing person poster. She

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was a mother, a grandmother, an neighbor, a woman who

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loved flowers and enjoyed spending time with people she loved.

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Public appeals from her family have consistently focused on keeping

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attention on Betty's case and encouraging anyone with information to

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come forward. As the investigation continued, law enforcement never announced

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that they had ruled out foul play. They also never

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announced that they had confirmed foul play. That distinction is important.

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Cases like Betty's often remained classified as missing person investigations

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because there is not enough evidence to determine exactly what happened.

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Investigators have continued to encourage anyone with information, no matter

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how small, to contact law enforcement. One challenge in long

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term missing person cases is a gradual loss of fresh evidence.

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Memories fade, witnesses move away, businesses replace surveillance systems, receipts

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are discarded, phone records eventually become unavailable through routine investigative methods.

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The passage of time makes solving any case more difficult.

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That is one reason investigators stress the importance of receiving

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tips as early as possible. Yet, despite those challenges, cold

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cases are solved every year advances in forensic science, new

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witness statements, someone deciding after years of silence, to finally

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tell investigators what they know. History has shown that cases

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once thought unsolved can suddenly change with a single new

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piece of information. That possibility is one reason Betty's case

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remains open. In the years since her disappearance, awareness efforts

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have continued. Family members have participated in media interviews, community

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members have shared Betty's photograph online. Missing persons organizations have

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continued to feature her case. Each renewed effort carries the

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same hope that someone somewhere recognize is a detail they've

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overlooked or remembers something that once seemed unimportant. For investigators,

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missing person cases are rarely forgotten. Even when active search

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is slow, information is preserved, tips can still be evaluated,

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Evidence can be re examined. New technology can sometimes provide

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opportunities that did not exist when the investigation first began.

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Although there have been no publicly announced major breakthroughs in

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Betty Alexander's disappearance, law enforcement has continued to ask the

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public for information. There is another reality about missing persons

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investigations that often receives less attention families frequently described living

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in two worlds at once. One world hopes their loved

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one is still alive, the other fears the worst. Without answers,

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neither possibility can be fully accepted. That uncertainty can continue

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for years, sometimes decades. It is a burden unique to

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families of the missing. Today, Betty Alexander remains listed as

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a missing person. Her case is still open. No arrest

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have been announced, no suspects have been publicly identified, No

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definitive explanation has ever been released regarding what happened after

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she was last believed to be inside her apartment on

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the evening of April tenth, twenty nineteen. Some mysteries endure

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because they are impossible to forget, not because they are sensational,

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not because they dominate national headlines, but because they involve

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ordinary people whose lives suddenly changed forever. Betty Alexander's story

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reminds us that every missing person case leaves behind more

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than unanswered questions. It leaves behind an empty chair at

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family gatherings, a birthday that passes in silence, a phone

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call that never comes, and loved ones who continue hoping

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that tomorrow might finally bring the answers they've waited for

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years to hear. If you have any information regarding the

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disappearance of Betty Alexander, investigators asked that you contact the

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Sullivan Police Department or the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Missing

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Persons Clearinghouse. Even information that seems insignificant could help move

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the investigation forward. Thank you for joining me on among monsters,

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I'm Maya Hanson. Until next time, stay aware, take care

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of one another, and never stop remembering those who are

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still missing.