Posted online: August 21, 2006 12:27 AM
Print publication date: August 21, 2006
10 years after her disappearance, Trudy’s family searches for answers
Comment on this article | More story comments
By Brian Krans,
bkrans@qconline.com
A computer enhanced image of what Trudy Appleby might look like today. Trudy Appleby was last seen Aug. 21, 1996, getting into a silver car driven by a white man in his 20s. Ten years later, her father knows he won’t find her alive.
A decade later and still no answers.
What happened to Trudy Leann Appleby? She was last seen Aug. 21, 1996. It was a few weeks before her 12th birthday.
Her father, Dennis Appleby, got home from work. No Trudy. His street-smart, firecracker kid was gone.
The house near 41st Street and 20th Avenue in Moline was just as he left it. Her purse was in her bedroom. A few hundred bucks saved for vacation remained, too. She didn't call her friend that morning. She always had before.
Friends were at Credit Island Park that day. Was Trudy? A swimsuit and towel were missing too. Did something go wrong at the beach? Has it been covered up all these years? Her dad thinks so.
Police aren't sure she was there. They searched anyway.
A neighbor saw her in an older, four-door gray car, leaving her driveway. A white man in his 20s was driving. He had dark curly hair.
Police called her a runaway. Her dad didn't believe it. "She didn't run away," Mr. Appleby said. "But they were intent on proving it that way."
The family does spots on national talk shows, hoping to get the word out. Mr. Appleby had one of the most recognizable faces in the Quad-Cities -- for all the wrong reasons.
No leads. He goes to bed thinking, 'Why didn't it happen today?" He wakes up thinking, "Hopefully today."
Fast forward three years.
Moline police are continuing to investigate. The FBI gets involved. New information surfaces. Authorities believe people in Quad-Cities know something. They're not saying what. The case is still open. They need the public's help.
Hundreds of tips led to dead ends. Frustration sets in, but no one's giving up just yet.
Another three years go by, and the father of Trudy's friend is charged with sexually abusing a girl Trudy's age about the time she disappeared. He'd been questioned before in Trudy's disappearance. He was the one taking the kids to the beach in 1996.
Police interview him again. Nothing comes from it.
Police say they're still on the case full time.
Now it's 2006.
People still remember Trudy. Her family marked every one of her birthdays Labor Day weekend. She'd be 21 now. College? Married? Children? Who knows.
Two of the main case investigators have retired. Moline police Sgt. Jay Titus is on it now. He's been at the department since Trudy went missing. A four-drawer filing cabinet is filled with case files. Tips are still coming in monthly. Most are unfounded or rumors.
But, the investigation is still active. It's officially called a "missing persons, involuntary." The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children still post fliers nationwide.
The sergeant's optimistic. "You've got to be." Still, they don't have anything. "We have no solid suspects at all."
Her father's more blunt. "We don't have any concrete evidence against anyone."
Police hope Trudy's alive, but in his heart Mr. Appleby knows otherwise. He's come to terms with it. He just wants to see justice done before Trudy's grandparents die.
He's frustrated with police. He hasn't heard from them in four months. He says the case was right in front of them when Trudy went missing. The evidence was all destroyed.
He sounds tired. He wants answers. He has hope something will come of the case. Not faith, hope. There's a difference, he says.
They key to it all is out there, he said. Someone knows something. Ten years is too long. Justice will only come if someone talks.
"Somebody's going to have say 'enough is enough,' " Mr. Appleby said. "I just don't know what to do any more."
If you have information …
* Last seen: Trudy Appleby was last seen Aug. 21, 1996, getting into a silver car driven by a white man in his 20s. Ten years later, her father knows he won't find her alive.
* Phone: Anyone with information is asked to call the Moline Police Department at (309) 797-0401, the FBI at (309) 764-9559 or Crimestoppers at (309) 762-9500.
* Online: For more information see the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Web site at
www.missingkids.com.
http://qconline.com/archives/qco/sections.cgi?prcss=display&id=302255
POSTED: 08/22/2007 3:31a
EAST MOLINE, Illinois - Trudy Appleby would be 21 years old right now.
A candlelight vigil was held Tuesday night for the Moline girl who went missing 11-years ago. She was last seen near her home getting into the car of an unidentified man. No one has seen her since.
"We don't know if she's still with us or she's alive somewhere out there," said Brenda Gordon, Trudy's mother.
On Tuesday night, friends and family gathered once again at Moline's First Baptist Church where they held a candlelight vigil to honor Trudy. The annual vigil has been held each year on the anniversary of her disappearance.
Her mother refuses to give up hope.
"We do this to get word out it's what we know how to do to make sure the police get leads."
So far leads have been few and far between. Police have released a new composite drawing of what an artist believes Trudy would now look like.
It's still an open case being investigated by Moline police detectives.
http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=6965464