Editors note: This is the second story in a series about the Crystal Soles missing persons case.
www.southstrandnews.com
Searching for answers: March held for missing Andrews woman to keep case in public eye
By Clayton Stairs cstairs@southstrandnews.com
Nov 15, 2017
They came from near and far to celebrate Crystal Soles' birthday, even though she wasn't present for the party. They marched through the streets of Andrews holding signs that said, "We will not give up," "We want answers," and "Happy Birthday Crystal."
They couldn't give her a hug, or watch her blow out her birthday candles, because she's never been found after she disappeared from Shaw's Corner Store in Andrews on Jan. 24, 2005.
But on Nov. 10 -- Crystal's 41st birthday and nearly 13 years after she vanished -- members of her family along with friends and neighbors gathered to celebrate her birthday and vowed to keep her missing persons case in the public eye until she is found. They marched again on Nov. 11.
Crystal's mother, Gail Soles, led the march. "I want people to know we are not giving up and we are going to fight that much harder now," she said.
Crystal's son, 18-year-old Mitchell Soles, was 5 when his mother vanished. During the march, he said he would like to see someone come forward who knows what happened to his mother.
"We would just like to get some closure on it, just so we know what happened and we will not just be wondering," he said. "I just wish they'd come forward with it and let us know. It would make the family happy."
Family members traveled from as far as Daytona, Florida, to participate in the march. Kathy Baker, Gail's sister who has been suffering with lupus and a broken femur bone in her leg, participated despite her pain.
"I'm still here because I love Crystal and want her back home, and I want to show my sister all the support that I can," she said. "We want to find out what happened, whoever done this. It's been a long time."
Peg Collier, Crystal's cousin, said she came to celebrate Crystal's birthday and to continue to bring awareness to the community. "We would really like to get national attention because we feel like there is some type of corruption in the police department," she said.
Andrews Police Chief Marc Whitfield has refused to discuss the case with the Georgetown Times, saying that he doesn't know much about it since he only started in January. He also said he doesn't have time to work on the case.
"I will read through the file when I have time, but I don't have time right now," he said. "I told Mrs. Gail Soles that, too."
Responding to Whitfield's statement that he didn't know much about the case, and didn't have time to work on it, Gail Soles said that is "not fair and not right."
"Crystal is not a priority to them, so why am I wasting my time with the Andrews Police Department?," she said. "It makes you lose all your faith in them."
She said the police need to work on her daughter's case.
"They need to do something," Gail Soles said. "My daughter is just as important as anyone else. What would they think if it was their daughter, their son, their mom?"
Andrews Mayor Frank McClary said his goal is for the police department to do everything it can to solve the case, especially if new tips come in.
"As I told Mrs. Soles, her daughter is missing and right now there is no answer, but my job is to do everything I can to find her daughter," McClary said. "We want to make sure we keep this in the forefront ... we want this to be transparent."
Gail Soles questions whether or not evidence collected by the Andrews Police Department has been properly gathered, processed and stored. She also questions the amount of paperwork in Crystal's file. She has told the Times on numerous occasions that the case file consists of "about 50 pages." A number she believes should be greater, noting that Crystal has been missing for nearly 13 years.
McClary had something to say about the filing system in his police department. "Frankly, this department didn’t do a great job over the years maintaining records," McClary said.
ncmissingpersons.org
