KENT, Wash. — Family and friends of a missing mother from Kent are sharing her story with the hope someone will come forward with new information. Kent police said the circumstances surrounding Alyssa McLemore’s disappearance are unusual and are asking for the public’s help to find her.
"She glowed. It was just like this happy ball of energy. She was an amazing mom,” said McLemore’s friend Erin Fualaau.
The 21-year-old mom to a toddler was reported missing a decade ago.
"It is still really hard," said Fualaau. "None of us have answers. Her family doesn't have answers. Her daughter doesn't have answers."
McLemore helped care for her ailing mother. She received a call from a family member in April 2009 letting her know her mother was getting worse.
"It was really weird. She said, 'OK, I will be there.' Then nothing happened," Fualaau explained. "Three days later there's still no Alyssa, and then her mom passes."
Kent police said a 911 call came from McLemore’s phone. A woman's voice could be heard yelling for help, then the call cut off. The call came from the Kent area, but police were unable to trace the caller's exact location because the phone was not GPS-enabled.
"After that, we don't know what happened. There wasn't any more to go off of," said Fualaau.
As family and friends fought for answers over the years, they discovered McLemore’s case was one of many. According to the National Crime Information Center, there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls in 2016.
The Urban Indian Health Institute issued a report that found Washington state has the second highest number of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls cases in the country.
"It's scary, it truly is,” said Fualaau. “There is no reason that many people should be missing.”
Fualaau never thought they would still be looking for her friend 10 years after she went missing.
"There is a little girl here who has grown up without her mom, and it's hard," said Fualaau. "We are going to figure out what happened to her."
Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to call the Kent Police Department tip line at 253-856-5808.