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Show Disappeared in 1988 Whatever Happened To Boots Lyle Of Panguitch? In August of 1988, the Garfield County News published the story of the disappearance of Beulah "Boots" Lyle, a Panguitch resident who, for awhile, was thought possibly pos-sibly to have met with foul play. Her son, Cline, who has returned to the county and now lives in Tropic, has been asked by many who knew his mother about the outcome to her disappearance. We now publish the heart-warming ending to a most unusual story. PANGUITCH Just over 1 1 years ago, on Aug. 20, 1988, Beulah Beu-lah "Boots" Lyle failed to return home to her husband Jim. Jim and his son Cline had planned a small birthday party for her, but Boots ' never arrived. Home was at JB Enterprises, En-terprises, an Indian jewelry store on Main Street in Panguitch which the couple had owned and operated for many years and where they lived in an adjacent apartment. Boots was expected back from a brief trip to Silverton, Colo., where she had gone to spend a few days with her sister-in-law. Concerned, Cline called to confirm con-firm her departure from Silver-ton and, realizing that she should have long since arrived, he and Jim immediately im-mediately called the Utah High-way Patrol to report her missing, asking them to look for her vehicle. That same evening, her locked and empty car was discovered abandoned in a field in Richfield, about 80 miles north of Panguitch. A Loving Person Over the years, many who had come to know Boots Lyle and her peaceful loving manner had often looked upon her as an "saint" or an "angel." She always had a listening ear and an uplifting word for everyone, every-one, "The Lord is my strength," she would say as she encouraged others on a daily basis. But what many people didn't know about Boots was that her home life was often a living hell. Boots' husband Jim was a violent drunk, and though he was loved and appreciated by his many friends for his sense of humor and his unusual charisma, once drunk and at home, Beulah "Boots" Lyle the devils within him let go their fury. Virtually orphaned in childhood, child-hood, enduring tormented teen years, Jim grew up a scrapper with a short-fused temper. Alcohol simply sim-ply released the childhood memories memories to torment him all over again. A difficult Life For over 30 years, Boots, who had been raised a gentle little country coun-try girl in a strong Christian home in Ohio, had been living a nightmare night-mare in her marriage. Jim, because of his drinking, had never been able to hold down a steady job and Boots had carried on her own shoulders the burden of supporting the family. After a hard day at work, she would come home to the challenging responsibilities re-sponsibilities of raising three children chil-dren and the duties of maintaining a household. Often she would have to take her children out to the park, or downtown to the mall, or over to a friend's house, to get them away from their father's drunken rages. Over the years, Boots kept holding out hope for Jim to change his life, praying daily in faith. Because she loved him and recognized the innate goodness in her husband, she never gave up. She understood the background back-ground that had led to his alcohol- i (See MISSING LADY on Page 9A) MISSING LADY From Front Page ism. She wanted a father for her children and she wanted desperately to keep her marriage together. Finally, after many years, the children were raised and on their own. Two married daughters had given the Lyles seven grandchildren and Cline, still single and now an ordained minister, was employed in the Garfield County area. For Boots, however, nothing had changed at home. A Summer Miracle One summer day at a Christian tent meeting near Parowan, Jim Lyle decided to visit the meeting where his son would be ministering to the teenage youth. Jim made sure Cline understood the conditions, condi-tions, "If I show up, don't preach to me!" he warned. Later, at the meeting, when Cline noticed his dad standing at the back of the tent, he asked some older men of God to speak with him. They gathered around his dad and asked, "Do you want to be freed from this stronghold of alcohol?" "Yes," replied Jim, "but for over 30 years I've tried everything from AA to detox, and nothing works." Before Jim could go on, the men began to pray, "Lord God, in the name of Jesus Christ we command com-mand the demon of alcohol to leave this man." Jim, for the first time in his adult life, began to cry, great sobs of grief and repentance, racking his body. The following Sunday, he was baptized by his son. Boots stood by watching as it all come to pass, believing that her prayers of 30 years finally had been answered. In the days and weeks that followed, Boots, filled with joy at thenew life in her home, watched Jim praising God and reading his Bible, free from the alcohol that had plagued him for so long. Crushing Disappointment Several weeks had passed since Jim's conversion and his faith was growing a little each day, but the enemy was not going to give up' without a fight. Jim had purchased ' Indian jewelry valued at several thousand dollars for their store and it had suddenly come up missing. Jim, Boots and Cline had searched everywhere without success throughout the day. That evening, filled, with anger and frustration, Jim took off alone. He returned after af-ter midnight, staggering - and drunk as he had ever been in the past. Boots came crashing down from her all-too-brief new life experience. Her 30-years of prayers for her husband hus-band to be a sober Christian man appeared to have resulted in just a few short weeks of bliss ending in the same old pattern of behavior, apparently destroyed by only one difficult experience. Something .snapped inside her. Feeling hopeless hope-less and helpless to help him any longer, with no longer the strength to return to the old way of living, she saw her planned visit to her sister-in-law in Colorado as a way out and she packed her bags with no plans to return, telling no one. Following her visit in Silver-ton, Silver-ton, she drove back as far as Richfield Rich-field where she left her locked car and boarded a bus to take her away. When She Didn't Return Back in Panguitch, Cline and Jim weren't sure what had taken place and sometimes feared foul play, but Jim didn't waste any time. As others searched for her, Jim said to Cline, "I want you to trace your mother's footsteps from Panguitch to Silverton and back, j Stop at every restaurant, gas sta-; sta-; tion, and tourist stop and show her ' picture to everyone. Look at rest ; stops, in every dumpster and trash can. See what you can find out." The Late Jim Lyle He remained at the business, manning man-ning the telephone. After two weeks of non-stop searching, Cline came up empty-handed empty-handed and he returned to the field in Richfield where his mother's empty car had been found. Kneeling Kneel-ing down in the field, he cried out to God, "Lord God, you Jcnow where my mother is. Please give us wisdom as to what is taking place." Cline says he received the following reassuring answer: "Your mother is alive, and she left on her own. She will be gone for a period of time and when she returns it will be to My Glory." Immediately, he says, his thoughts were led to Lamentations Lam-entations 3:22 "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compas-sions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness." "New every morning." Both Jim and Cline found in the Biblical promise both solace and strength. All of the Lyle family came together to-gether for a season during Boots' disappearance and offered help to Jim, but ultimately the searching fell to Cline and Jim because the others had family responsibilities in other states. Cline promised his dad the next year of his life to help in the search for his mother. Six Months Later About six months had gone by, and friends had come and gone, still trying to help, still, hoping, still praying. Flyers with her picture had been sent everywhere. Search agencies were consulted and hired. The story of her disappearance and possible foul play appeared in newspapers all over the state and her story was aired on television's missing persons shows. Still no word. One day Jim, sitting in his Panguitch shop, stopped Cline and said, "Son, I have something for you to see," showing Cline his signed will in which his business and possessions were turned over to Cline. "Son, I have a broken heart and I'm not sure I'm going to make it. If I ever go back to the alcohol, it will kill me." After the one night that Jim had fallen off the wagon the night that triggered Boots' disappearance, Jim had not touched a drop of alcohol. He had remained sober and returned, he said, to the God that delivered de-livered him. Hearing his dad's despairing words, Cline went up into the mountains behind Panguitch where he again cried out to God: "Lord God, you made the heavens and the earth and nothing is too difficult for you. Please give my dad the strength to hold on. Please don't allow him to lose this battle; I know that You are able." Boots Under a Dark Cloud Boots was living under a dark cloud of depression. She' took on a new name and worked different jobs. When asked about her family, fam-ily, she would tell about her children chil-dren and grandchildren but would say that her husband had died, for, believing that he had returned again to alcohol, in her heart and in her mind Jim was dead indeed. She wept often and wanted to call and talk to one of her children, but couldn't find the strength within herself, knowing that they would come for her and believing that she would have to face Jim's drunkenness again. Gone For a Year Over a year had gone by, and Cline finally told his dad that he had to get on with his own life. He met and married Cynthia, and their beautiful wedding on May 19, 1990 was saddened only by the absence of his mother. Tears flowed freely as family members cried with joy for Cline and Cynthia and with sadness for their missing mother. By now, Jim had sold their business and purchased a little retirement re-tirement home in Arizona to share with Boots. He never stopped believing be-lieving that he would have her back again so that he could try to make up for so many lost years. He would regale his friends, most of whom had long since given up hope, with the story of her disappearance dis-appearance and the efforts of his search, weeping as he talked about her returning one day. But he never returned to alcohol. After Two Years, A Clue Newlyweds Cline and Cynthia were living in the little house Jim had bought for Boots when the phone rang one day after Boots had been gone almost two years to the day. Cline answered , breathlessly listening as an anonymous lady reported re-ported that she had seen the missing person flyer and was certain she had seen his mother working in a certain cer-tain store several months earlier. Following the call, Cline began to pray: "Lord, it has been almost two years to date since my mom's disappearance. dis-appearance. If there is anything to this, please show me." As he prayed, he said he was given a vision vi-sion of himself climbing a flight of stairs at an apartment complex, going go-ing to a certain door and knocking. When the door was opened, it was Boots. "Mom," he cried, and she began weeping intensely. He says he knew then he would soon find his mother. Unwilling to involve his dad until he knew for certain where she could be found, Cline located the store where she had worked and the apartment complex at which she had lived under an assumed name several months earlier. The apartment apart-ment manager, because of legalities, legali-ties, could not reveal her forwarding address, but as the manager was suddenly called to another room to answer the telephone, Cline simply looked at the record and memorized the address. Immediately he called his dad, now telling him all that had transpired tran-spired the telephone call, his prayer and vision, and his latest search efforts. "Son, are you sure she'll be there?" asked Jim, incredulously. "Should we call? If we find her, what makes you think she'll come home?" Cline told his dad that the Lord had given him a vision and a promise prom-ise that she would return. Setting Out To Find Her Jim called his oldest daughter and she, Cline, and Jim set out for New Mexico to find Boots. The morning they arrived in Aztec, N.M., Jim was beside himself with nervousness. He cried; he laughed. He was, says Cline, like a young man going on his first date. "Son, how do I look? Do I smell O.K.? Do I seem nervous? How should I act?" "Dad, try to relax," Cline kept telling him over and over again. They arrived at the address Cline had memorized and he immediately recognized the apartment house from his vision, increasing his confidence con-fidence as the three of them climbed . the already familiar stairs to the door if his vision. "Son, you go first," Jim said. Cline knocked on the door, and as it was opened his vision of two weeks earlier came true as Boots dropped to her knees and began to weep intensely. After many tears were shed all around, there was a time of silence as Boots' family began to pray together. to-gether. Jim shared the good news with Boots that he had remained a sober Christian man and that she would be coming home to a new husband. A New Life Together Boots returned to her husband and family and to the little mountain moun-tain home in Arizona that Jim had bought for her. They rededicated their love for each other, enjoying a little over two years together in rekindled re-kindled love and precious time together to-gether before Jim suddenly passed away. Today Boots is still living in Arizona and Cline's family has added five more grandchildren to her original seven. Cline and Cynthia and their five little children are now living in Tropic where they are building a home on land that Cline purchased many years ago. "I'll always remember the kindness kind-ness and love that people showed our family when my mother disappeared," disap-peared," he said, "those who brought food, encouraged us, and those who just listened as dad repeated re-peated and repeated how he had, with God's help, overcome his alcoholism, al-coholism, never once doubting that he would find his Boots again." Cline hopes to begin a ministry soon in Tropic, believing that God can do for others what God did for the Lyle family. |