The Puyallup Police Department says it is happy with the results of its one-day event, using its social media accounts to bring attention to a 25-year long missing person case by telling the girl's story in her voice.
Misty Copsey disappeared from The Puyallup Fair -- now known as the Washington State Fair -- on Sept. 17, 1992. She was 14 years old and would now be 39.
“In 25 years, she is our only missing person from the Washington State Fair,” Captain Scott Engle said.
Copsey missed her bus home from the fair and hasn't been seen or heard from by loved ones since.
Puyallup PD says its social media accounts was Copsey's for one day. She will "speak" through the department's accounts in hopes of generating tips in the case.
“We’re really trying to show who Misty was,” Capt. Engle said. “That she was actually a young, vibrant 14-year-old girl who went to the Puyallup Fair just like so many others back then. But she had an outcome that to this day, we still have not been able to solve what happened to her.“
Puyallup PD says this has only be done one other time in the United States and once in Canada. The case in Manitoba was not solved, according to Capt. Engle. However, he still hopes casting a wide net through social media will catch the attention of fairgoers from Eastern Washington or outside the state who might have photos or information from the night Copsey disappeared.
Puyallup PD on Monday said it was happy with the outcome of its efforts and how far the posts reached, saying the event brought in a number of tips which detectives are now working through.
Copsey’s mother, Diana Smith, says she is hopeful someone will come forward. But after all these years, she no longer expects a major break.
“It kind of bothers me because everybody knows who did it,” Smith said, referring to a person of interest police polygraphed decades ago but did not have evidence to bring charges against.
Smith wants answers, but more so, to put her daughter to rest. She is asking if anyone has information as to where her remains are, to come forward.
“It’s another year that’s gone by and she’s not home, and I know she’s out there somewhere. You get really bad thoughts, you know: if she was found, would there be anything left of her? Would there be anything to put to rest?
That’s hard when you think about it – just knowing your child has been out there for so long,” Smith said.
Smith wishes to bury her daughter next to her grandparents.
To see more missing children's cases, visit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
