TAMPA, Fla. — Advocates and law enforcement came together Thursday in Tampa to bring awareness to unsolved homicides and missing person cases, gather more public information, and bring closure to families.
"It's been a real big hole in my life that I can't find him," said Mary Jones.
Jones has desperately been looking for her brother, Michael Farrington, known by his family as Brad.
"My brother has been missing since 2013. Last time I saw him was in 2011, and we've been looking for him ever since, and we found an address in Florida," said Jones.
Her search led her hundreds of miles away from her home in Indianapolis. She flew in for an event on Thursday in Tampa dedicated to helping families find their missing loved ones.
"I flew down here to file the report down here so that if he is here, maybe we can locate him because we miss him and we love him," said Jones.
Organizers said the event, dubbed Missing in Florida Day, is meant to provide resources to families of missing people and spread awareness of those cases in the state.
People could take important steps like filing new missing persons reports and submitting DNA samples for genetic testing.
"You just never know what fabric of information will help us bring closure on a case," said Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast.
Prendergast heads up the Florida Cold Case Advisory Commission. He urged that if anyone has any information at all about a cold case, they want to talk to you.
"There's 900+ John and Jane Does in Florida, and those people's families, as well as those victims, they deserve to know what happened to their loved ones," said Prendergast.
For families, not knowing can be the worst part.
"The last time that we saw my brother, he would've been 42," said Jones. "He'd now be 52."
Still, Jones hopes that her big question will be answered soon.
"If I could decide what closure I want, it would be that I would find him, and he would be okay, but if he's not, then I would at least know, and like I said, I could bring him home," said Jones.
Law enforcement wants families to know it's never too late to get information to investigators in hopes of getting answers and that people should reach out to their local agency as soon as possible.
