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Show a ..mn"HrV' I 1 LIFE GOES ON By GARY R. BLODGETT It's been three long years, but the Nov. 8, 1974 disappearance of Debi Kent is still like a nightmare to her parents and four brothers and sisters. "I STILL wake up in the night and go to ' her room to see if she's in bed. The past three years have been like one long nightmare. It's still hard to believe that Debi is gone," said her father. But Dean and Belva Kent, parents of the missing teenaged girl, know that chances are slim that Debi will be found alive. "OF COURSE we never give up hope," said Mr. Kent. "But we have to accept the fact that after this much time, and without any clues of her whereabouts, that she is dead." It's not easy for the Kent family. It's especially difficult for the missing girl's brothers and sisters Bill 19, Trish 17, Ed 15, and Blair 13. "THEY HAVE had a lot of adjustments to make, both at home and at school," Mr. Kent explained. "It's been really hard on them academically, socially and in every other way. Most people have been good to them but sometimes things are said that really hurt." Debi's disappearance three years ago is still a mystery. SHE LEFT her parents at a high school play and headed for the family car parked in the Viewmont High School parking lot. She was to pick up a brother at a cross-town cross-town skating rink. i That was the last time Debi was seen alive. BOUNTIFUL Police Chief Dean O. Anderson An-derson says Debi, 17 years old at the time, never reached the family car. What happened? No one knows. DEBI WAS not a troubled girl. She had never been a runaway. "I knew immediately that something had happened to Debi, something beyond her control because she was always dependable. She never kept anyone waiting," wait-ing," said her mother. THE SCHOOL grounds and nearby canyons were searched, but without results. It was especially horrifying to the Kent family and investigating officers because only a short time before there had been other reports of missing or kidnapped girls about Debi's age. POLICE investigated every lead. A handcuff key was found and police believe this may have been linked to Debi's disappearance. Two persons who had been approached by a man asking for help in getting his car started also were questioned ques-tioned hy po'ice. But to that point and even today It's been three long years since Debi Kent, then aged 17, disappeared from Viewmont High School's parking lot. Her disappearance disap-pearance is still a mystery, and meanwhile her family has had to make many adjustments in their life. there is no body. Speculation has turned to belief that Debi was kidnapped, by force, by an unknown assailant. "THERE IS absolutely no question in my mind that Debi was kidnapped," said Chief Anderson. "All I want now is to find the guilty person. "This case has been on my mind more than any case in my 25 years as a police officer. There's hardly a day goes by that I don't think about this case and desire, in the worst way, to have it solved and the guilty punished. "WE ARE still checking out leads, but those leads become fewer as time goes on. This case has become a personal one for me and I'd like to see it come to an end more than any case I have ever worked on." Mr. Kent admits that he has been overprotective with his children during the past three years. "YOU TRY not to be different in the way you handle your children, but you can't help but be," he said kind of apologetically. "The kids have suffered noticeably. All of them are more apprehensive, more cautious. We all are." Mrs. Kent said all family members have their good and their bad days. "IT'S BEEN three years but time doesn't heal something like this," she said. "I work part-time to try and keep my mind occupied but still there are days I would rather not talk to people." . The entire Kent family attribute their ability to get through this trying situation on the love and understanding of all their neighbors, friends and relatives. i "AND ESPECIALLY to our beloved bishop, Doug Sontag," said Mr. and Mrs. Kent. "He was with us day and night when we needed him most and he has always al-ways been so understanding, so concerned con-cerned for our welfare." The Kent family also wanted to thank all those who showed sympathy during the past three years, and to those who contributed con-tributed to the "reward fund" that was collected. "WE COULDNT have held up without our lovely neighbors and ward members. It seemed like the entire community stood by us when we needed them," they said. Mrs. Kent said the holiday season is especially difficult without Debi and it gets harder with each passing year. NEXT TO having Debi back alive, the Kent family wants peace of mind. The peace of mind in knowing what happened. Like Mrs. Kent said, "We want Debi back. Even to have her body in a nearby cemetery would relieve a lot of the torture we have lived through the past three years." |