As my dear husband settled down for the night, I assured him I would join him shortly. “Are you working on a search?” he asked. Naturally, I was. At this time of year, the sense of urgency grows stronger. Family is incredibly important, and tonight’s request was no exception. A grown woman, terminally ill, was trying to reconnect with the family she left behind at the age of 14. Now an adult with her own family and facing a grim future, how could I not help? It seemed straightforward enough; she had full names and dates of birth. I decided to dedicate just an hour to the search. Sadly, she had already exhausted a significant amount of funds on previous attempts. A true Search Angel never charges a fee.

I quickly discovered that her family was scattered across different states and had moved frequently. My primary focus became her mother, who had remarried more times than I could count. After several back-and-forth emails, we determined her most recent married name. After thorough research, I conducted a simple Google search using her mother’s name and that of her latest husband. What I found made my stomach drop: “Woman Charged After Husband Found Buried in Front Yard.” His remains had been discovered in pieces, two years after he went missing. The story—and the accompanying images—were horrifying, reminiscent of something you’d see in an episode of 48 Hours Mystery.

I couldn’t help but scream. My dog glanced at me, bewildered. While I waited for the woman to call, I reached out to a fellow Angel on Facebook for guidance. I knew I couldn’t convey this news in an email; that would be far too cold. My greatest hope was that she wasn’t home alone. Finally, the call I had been anticipating came in. Surprisingly, her reaction was calm. She expressed that she felt no real sadness—it seemed she had disconnected from this woman long ago. Perhaps this was validation that leaving home at 14 was indeed her best choice. Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that deep down, she would have preferred to share some meaningful moments with her mother during the little time they had left, moments free from barriers like electrified fences and plate-glass walls.

Tomorrow, I will focus on locating her siblings. She deserves something better than this.