I am posting this in full because it's a letter that was released to the media and not a news article.
Causbys: We thank friends, family for support
Morganton, NC --
We just wanted to take a moment to tell each of you how much we appreciate all of the care, love and support we have received during the past week. To say that the last week was stressful would, of course, be an understatement. We have never been through anything like this and hope we never have to go through it again.
Now that we have had time to gain a little perspective on things, we see that God was with us through each sleepless night, each tear that fell and each step that we took to keep life as normal as possible for our children. When it seemed that the search was the darkest, a familiar face would appear to aid in the search and would bring to us a certain amount of peace. When the sick feeling that continually was with both of us would seem at its worst, the telephone would ring and there would be a familiar voice just to say that they were thinking of us.
For all of you who called, e-mailed, texted, started prayers for us from North Carolina to Colorado, offered us and our children a place to stay and talked with us when you have seen us, and to those who just silently thought of us and prayed, thank you does not seem adequate, but we do offer that to each of you from the bottom of our hearts. We have been extremely humbled by the outpouring of care and compassion that we have received.
To our neighbors, we apologize that your lives have been disrupted by this situation. Most of you have been very kind, caring and helpful during this time and have told us that an apology is not needed, but we still feel that one is owed since you were dragged into everything with all of the media attention.
To our dear families, we would be nothing without each of you. For those who had to endure the disruption, for those who provided shelter and for those who helped with the children, we thank you again. We dearly love each of you.
Our prayer has been and continues to be that they will find Zahra Baker. She has survived so much during her 10 short years and always continues to smile.
During our reflection, we were led to a verse that we would like to share in closing:
Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family. Proverbs 18:24
We are so blessed to have a very large family!
Editors note: Fred Causby owns Real Tree Service on Hartland Road. Law-enforcement authorities repeatedly searched the property during their investigation of the disappearance of Zahra Baker of Hickory, daughter of Causbys employee Adam Baker. Authorities say they found nothing suspicious on the property.
http://www2.morganton.com/news/2010/nov/02/causbys-we-thank-friends-family-support-ar-505699/