One of the most mysterious disappearances in recent memory is now almost a decade past.
Myra Lewis, if she is still on this earth, is 11 years old now. Whether she’s with us anymore or not, somebody knows what happened to her.
She would be in middle school, worried about clothes and homework and her peers, more than likely. Instead, so many people worry she will never be found.
Myra was two years old when she went missing from her Camden home in Madison County nine years ago. From everything her family told police and the media, it was like she was there one minute, gone the next.
Hers is the longest active Amber Alert in the state of Mississippi.
A $20,000 reward still stands for anyone who can offer information successfully leading to her return. Not that it makes sense now, but the “missing” posters stand frozen in time at the Madison County Sheriff’s Department describing the toddler that would now be almost a teenager. Baby Myra was last seen wearing a turquoise sweater with a bear on the front, off-white or khaki pants, and pink tennis shoes.
Myra was allegedly last seen by her mother, Ericka Lewis, at their home on Mount Pilgrim Road. Ericka Lewis said Myra and her sister were outside playing as she left to go shopping. Lewis said she told them to go inside, where Gregory Lewis, Ericka’s husband, was playing video games and looking after their 1-month-old.
Gregory Lewis told reporters at the time that he had set out to look for Myra on his ATV and that he had tried to track her with the family dogs. Once the family dogs, who were not tracking dogs, couldn’t find the scent, police tracking dogs were brought in after the fact and were unable to locate Myra.
The family told authorities they believed the child had been snatched from the rural road by a stranger.
The search began on the property at least four to five hours after Myra disappeared into thin air. Local, state, and federal law enforcement began combing the 4 square miles surrounding the child’s home, including a pond across the street.
Ericka and Greg Lewis, who could fairly be described as not very forthcoming with police, have moved out of the area. Efforts to find them by law enforcement and journalists have been unsuccessful. They have disappeared, though arguably not as completely as Myra.
To those who tried to find and help and save Myra, it became a mission.
“It’s personal,” Sheriff Randy Tucker said. “I don’t want it solved for me. I want it solved for Myra… The person that matters the most is Myra.”
Tucker has said tips still come in, from everyone from locals to people in other countries. So many people see her case online, and hope they’ve seen her.
While some have forgotten the date Myra went missing, most remember that it happened. That is in part due to the law enforcement and some media personnel who have marked off each anniversary of the child’s disappearance, remembering the frantic search for the child that went on throughout Madison County and capitivated people not only all around the state, but all over the nation.
Time may have eroded some of the interest and most of the publicity, but it hasn’t affected the resolve of the men and women who are determined to find Myra, and if necessary, find her kidnapper or killer.
“I can promise as long as I’m here, this case will still be open,” said Tucker. “To anybody that abducted her, please consider her need and her family, and her right to be with her family.”
If you know anything about Myra Lewis’ whereabouts or her disappearance, contact the Madison County Sheriff’s Department.
You can also contact us here at Darkhorse Press at news@darkhorsepressnow.com.
