Mom Persists in search for missing girl
Ceremony planned for Sunday to Mark Five Years
By Milton Babb
Herald Banner Staff
For the fifth anniversary of the disappearance of their daughter Sarah, John and Louise Kinslow would most like to get word of her safety.
"She'd be almost 20 now", Louise Kinslow said Friday. "There are people who know what happened to her, and we really need to know. We don't care what has happened in the meantime or who she might be with, we just need to know that she is safe."
It was May 1, 2001 that John Kinslow dropped his daughter off at Greenville Middle School.
"She never went in," Louise Kinslow said. "Someone at the school saw her leaving with someone. The police brought out bloodhounds the next day, but they lost the scent on Caddo Street."
The Kinslows believe there has been one, and perhaps two sightings of their daughter since then.
"She was seen in June 2001 at the Exxon Station across from Wal-Mart," her mother said. "I saw the video tape and if was definitely her. She'd cut her hair and dyed it brown. The police never interviewed the store clerk."
Louise Kinslow said a family friend reportedly saw her later in Quinlan, but that sighting has not been confirmed.
"This has been the most difficult thing. I can't fathom why she would leave and not call home, if she were safe," Kinslow said.
"It's been excruciatingly, horribly difficult for us emotionally."
Two events are scheduled to coincide with Sarah Kinslow's disappearance.
A candlelight ceremony will be held at Southwood Christian Church on FM 1570 beginning at 7 p.m. Sunday.
And an Adopt-a-Missing-Person campaign will be staged at the main entrance to Crossroads Mall on Monday at 4 p.m.
"There are 140,000 missing persons in the United States," Kinslow said. "I'm sure everyone of them has family and friends like Sarah has, who want desperately to hear something about their loved one."
The Kinslows said anyone knowing anything about their daughter should contact the police, or call 1-800-The Lost.