CRESTVIEW — Two families attended a vigil on Sunday for their missing loved ones. One family’s beloved member has been missing for 32 years. The other family’s loved one has been missing for six months.
Linda Kay Carroll has been missing since Sept. 25, 1984. Her sisters, Donna Stephens and Cheryl Penrod, organized the vigil at the Livingston Center in Crestview. Their goal? To raise awareness about missing persons.
“People always said to me, ‘Maybe she ran away,’” Stephens said. “My response now is, ‘What if it was your daughter or family member?’ We hope to help other families so that they won’t be standing here 32 years from now.”
Marsha Ankeney, Linda Kay Carroll’s aunt, was 29 when Linda went missing in Crestview.
“She is five years younger than me, but we were very close,” Ankeney said. “She was fun-loving, loved her children and animals, and was always cheerful. We had a lot of fun together.” She said that Linda has three grandchildren now.
Penrod, of Milton, recently shared this history of Carroll's disappearance with the Santa Rosa Press Gazette:
- In 1984, Linda, 24 at the time, and her husband, Dennis Carroll, were separated. He took the children, Melissa and Jason, to Tennessee. Linda lived at the house they started to purchase. "She never had a license or a job … She had babies right out of high school,” Penrod said.
- Linda got a job at Showell Farms in DeFuniak Springs and had a regular ride to work. Weeks after she started working there, the man giving her a ride came to the house of Linda's mother, Irene Heller, to see if Linda was there because she wasn't at her home.
- An investigation began shortly thereafter and passed through police and then cold case investigators. Dennis was in the process of moving his mother from Mississippi to Tennessee, so Linda's remains or any evidence or witnesses could be anywhere between the three states, the sisters said.
- While Dennis was the prime suspect, Penrod said all evidence was circumstantial so police couldn't charge him. The only physical evidence was a clump of hair wedged into a door strike plate, but it wasn't enough.
Sunday, Ankeney expressed thanks on behalf of Linda’s family to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement for their support and hard work on Linda’s cold case.
“We particularly want to thank OCSO Investigators Nolan Weeks and Anthony Kelly for their help in keeping Linda from becoming just another missing person," Ankeney said.
Chip Campbell, 36, has been missing since March 8. His sister, Donna Lowery, and cousins, Pam and Brittany Flores of Milton, attended the vigil. Campbell had recently been diagnosed with diabetic seizures.
“He has six siblings and is the baby of the family,” Pam Flores said. “He never married. He was last seen on a video taken at the Circle K on Stuart Street in Milton.”
Detective Deron Wilson of the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office is handling Chip’s case.
Brad Dennis, head of the KlaasKids Foundation's Pensacola chapter, was another speaker during the ceremony. In 1993, he ran the search in California for 12-year-old Polly Klaas, who was kidnapped and later murdered. Her father started the foundation in 1994 in honor of Polly. Its Pensacola chapter focuses on the Northwest corridor of Florida, but will help anywhere in the country.
As for Sunday’s ceremony, “Vigils are important,” Dennis said. “They bring the missing persons back in front of the media so they can get the information out to the public.”
“Two thousand people disappear every day and their families are left behind seeking answers,” he said. “If you have a loved one that is missing, you live in a state of limbo. Now is the time for the good people of Crestview to come forward to allow Linda Kay Carroll’s family to grieve. To Linda and Chip’s families, you are not alone.”
Campbell’s sister and cousins spoke to the crowd toward the end of the vigil.
“I can’t imagine standing here 32 years from now,” Pam Flores said. “Someone out there knows something.”
Santa Rosa Press Gazette Assistant Editor Aaron Little contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: ‘You are not alone’
