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Show A year and a half later, Beth Miller's parents still wait and hope Mike and dreamed ilene never When A Child Doesn't Come Home RAN their little mining CARPENTIER nestled in the Mike and become the for a parent's the disappear- Ilene Miller most feared nightmare ance of a child. You never get all the way back to being normal, Ilene Miller says today. We still jump when the phone rings especially late at night." It was a normal Tuesday morning ElizaAug. 16, 1983 when beth Ann, the fourth of the Millers' seven children, tossed on her white shorts, and sneakers and dashed a blue out of the house for her daily jog. When Beth was late for dinner that evening, Mrs. Miller checked the family bulletin board for some message from her. There was none. A quick phone call at 7 p.m. confirmed the mothers rising fears: Beth had not showed up for her babysitting job that afternoon. That's when I brcame unglued," Mrs. Miller recalls. By 9 the next morning, 400 friends and neighbors had gathered at the Miller home to orchestrate a search. In that first week, the people of Idaho Springs. Colo., walked 1000 miles looking for Beth. Dog teams . helicopters and singleengine planes searched the mountainous terrain. The FBI entered the case. We didn't find a clue," says Investigator David Ochs of the Idaho Springs Police. Notomclothing, no fallen shoes. anxiously await word on their daughter Beth (photo inset), who disappeared without a trace in August 1983. rt No hair or footprints. Nothing." Mike and Ilene Miller are convinced their daughter did not run away. Why would she? Beth was a happy teenager, they tell me. She was a pretty and popular girl, a good student who wanted to be a lawyer when she grew up. She also was a hard worker and had earned S100 from babysitting that summer to buy herself a new wardrobe for high school. None of the money was missing from Beths room when she disappeared. The Millers also are certain that their daughter w as not abducted by a stranger. We assume that Beth was picked up by someone who she probably felt that she knew or who she thought knew us." Mrs. Miller says. Nobody in tow n saw anything. Nobody heard her scream. So we assume that she knew this person well enough to get into a vehicle with him ... or her ... or them. There are reports that Beth was seen talking to a young man in a red 1975 or 1976 Ford Courier pickup with license plates the week before she disappeared. But the police have not been able to trace the dri ver or the vehicle. Mike Miller says his daughter was not likely to fool with strangers. But he adds, After all, what's a stranger to a teenager? Just because I dont know him. does that make him a stranger to my daughter? If Beth had spoken to someone once or twice, she might not think of that person as being a stranger." It is 20 months now since Beth disappeared. and the police and FBI are no te Among The Missing About .5 million bo s and girls under 17 are reported missing each year, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Washington. D C. One million run aw ay from home. As many as 500.000 are taken b) a parent in a custody dispute. And up to 50.000 are abducted by strangers. Here arc 12 children w hose w hereabouts arc unknown to their parents or guardians. If you have an information about them or if you are a missing child yourself who needs help, call the National Cene number: ter's (634-983- 6 in Washington. D.C.). 1 toll-fre- Rachel Ziselman Jonelle Matthews Louis Mackerley Charlotte Kinsey Kelly Staples PACE 8 . Antonella Mattina APRIL 7, 1985 PARADE MAGAZINE |
