Remembrance ceremony held Saturday for missing area woman, Kelley Louise Howard
by Eddie Burkhalter
eburkhalter@annistonstar.com
Just before 11 a.m. Saturday, dozens of red and yellow balloons rose up into the sky above Wellborn Park, three years to the day that Kelley Louise Howard went missing.
The event was held to raise awareness of the missing Pell City woman, in the hope that some new piece of information would provide answers for a family locked in grief.
Howard has been missing since June 2, 2009. A 1986 graduate of Wellborn High School, she is from the Anniston/Oxford area but was living in Pell City at the time of her disappearance.
Howard was last seen at Family Dentistry in Riverside where she worked as a dental hygienist. She was 41 years old when she went missing.
“We want closure,” said Howard’s son, 24-year-old Shaun Derusha. His son, Howard’s only grandchild, was born just three months after Howard disappeared.
While they hold out hope she will be found alive, several family members expressed Derusha’s need for an end, no matter the outcome.
“I just want to bury my mother. Everybody deserves a funeral. Especially people that lived like she lived,” Derusha said.
Howard’s husband, Boyd, said that the two had been married for eight years when she went missing, and that the pain never eases.
“She was my whole world,” Boyd said. “I’m still married to her. The most important thing in my life now is to find out what actually happened to her.”
Through tears, and surrounded by family, Howard’s mother, Peggy Henderson, described her daughter’s powerful smile and warm heart. Henderson pleaded for anyone with information to come foreword.
“We know she’s gone. We know she’s not coming home. But if we could just have her remains back so that she could have a Christian burial. That would mean the world to us,” Henderson said. “That’s why we’re reaching out one more time.”
Derusha said that he wants most for people to know that the family will continue to look for his mother because “she wouldn’t ever give up on any of us ad we’re not going to give up on her.”
St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office investigator Rick Oliver said by phone Saturday that his department continues to actively work the case.
“It is ongoing. We continue to follow leads as they come to us,” Oliver said. He asked that anyone with information call the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office Investigative Division at 205-884-3333. At the time she disappeared, Howard was 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighed 140 pounds and had blonde hair.
Anonymous letters can also be mailed to the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office at 1610 Cogswell Ave. Suite 206, Pell City, 35125.
A $10,000 reward has been offered by the family, and an additional $5,000 reward by the Governor’s Office, for information leading to an arrest of anyone involved in the disappearance of Howard.
Star staff writer Eddie Burkhalter: 256-235-3563 or on Twitter @EBurkhalter_Star.
Read more: Anniston Star
Kelley Louise "Henderson" Howard went missing on Tuesday, June 2, 2009. She was last seen at the Family Dentistry in Riverside, Alabama, where she works as a dental hygienist. Kelley spoke with her mother on the telephone that day around noon, which is the last time anyone has heard from Kelley. She asked her mom to please hold while she answered the door at the dentist office during lunch hour. She never came back to the phone and has not been seen since. Police found her car, untouched, in the office parking lot. The family has been searching for Kelley and ask anyone who may have information to please contact the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office immediately at 205-884-3333 or 205-884-2677, or your local police.
KELLEY'S WEBSITE:
www.kelleyhoward.com
Description:
Missing: June 2009
Age at Disappearance: 41
Race: White
Height: 5'3”
Weight: 145 lbs.
Eye Color: Blue
Hair: Brown/Blonde
From her Facebook friends:
I certainly never would have thought that I would be sending out a message one year after Kelley’s disappearance saying we still don’t know where she is or what happened to her but here we are. It's been three years since Kelley got up, got dressed and went to work. She had a phone conversation with her Mom around noon and has not been seen or heard from since. It has been years of constant worry and concern for Kelley’s family and her friends, mixed with frustration at the lack of information, and hope that with a little patience we will find the answers eventually. Please know that your postings on the group page are all read and it is very meaningful and comforting to everyone who misses her still.
I would like to thank you all for standing with us in your support for finding Kelley. When this group started it was 7 members of Kelley’s old friends from school, now we are 4800+ members strong and we still need your prayers. We know and have faith in the fact that no amount of time will make us give up. It is never too late for someone to come forward, or for the police to find evidence or for a miracle to happen.
Please remember to say a prayer for Kelley, for her family & friends, and for Riverside PD and Chief Rick Oliver to renew this effort.
As always, much love and respect to each of you….
Group Hug, Susan Boswell Nierling
KELLEY HENDERSON HOWARD
www.lostnmissing.com
