WSET.com - ABC13One Year Since Hattie Brown?s Disappearance

One Year Since Hattie Brown?s Disappearance

This Sunday marks a very painful anniversary for a local family. It's the day Hattie Brown disappeared, last seen at the Sheetz in South Boston.

The most recent piece of evidence turned up last summer, but still, one of Brown's family members is still is holding out hope that she's out there, somewhere, waiting to be found alive.

"It feels like it's just happened," Hattie's sister Preteasta Barksdale said.

But in reality- almost a year has passed since Preteasta Barksdale last saw her sister Hattie Brown. Since then, their family has been dealing with a grief that seems never-ending.

"It's just like an open door, you continue to walk but you never get to the end of it, just like a black hole," Barksdale said.

The only physical information they have - her abandoned, burned car. A Halifax County farmer found it on his land in July. Authorities soon named Derrick Brown, Hattie's nephew, a suspect in the case. Then in November, they renewed their search efforts.

"Part of the location here is near where the vehicle was found and so we're just starting to check all the rivers and creeks and bridges," State Police Scuba Team Clay Overholt said.

And still- nothing. Not a trace of the 48-year-old retired soldier who was trained as a child to write a note even when leaving home for a minute, but Barksdale isn't ready to plan a funeral.

"I continually feel that she is still alive and until they produce information or proof I'm not going to believe it." Barksdale - "People would say that it's impossible for her to be alive, but there's always still hope," she said.

And if not hope - then faith in God.

"He is in control, there's nothing we can do about it, I can't continue to worry myself about it and make myself sick, but I do continue to think about her and pray about her everyday," Barksdale said.

Derrick Brown has not been charged. Family members say he has left the area.

If you know anything about this case, even a small detail about where Hattie may be, call State Police at 800-552-0962. Her family is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.