Sgt. Jeff Haines, lead detective on Carey Mae’s case for the Hunt County Sheriff’s Department, told Dateline that to maintain the integrity of the case, he can’t confirm many of the details. He said that already, “information has gotten out that wasn’t supposed to get out,” but would not elaborate further on the record.
Sgt. Haines told Dateline that there was no record of the constable reporting Carey Mae’s case. He added that the case has been difficult to work since the investigation began nearly 20 years after Carey Mae went missing.
“It’s been really hard since there was no physical crime scene to begin with,” Sgt. Haines said.
A March 2018 statement from the Hunt County Sheriff’s Department echoed that frustration. “This has been a very challenging case since we didn’t actually have a location to begin our search for Carey Mae Parker,” the statement said.
“The investigation has thus far led investigators to track down family members and former associates of Ms. Parker’s across north Texas and even into Oklahoma which has resulted in no solid information on her possible whereabouts.”
Winston Dennis, a retired police officer in Stratford, Texas has been looking at Carey Mae’s case in his free time since December of 2017.
“It’s an almost 30-year-old case. A lot of people from that time have died,” he told Dateline, adding that Carey Mae’s car, a Buick Skylark, has also been missing since 1991.
“I spent 20 years as a cop, I have never heard anything like this case,” Dennis told Dateline.