"I Want To Bring Him Home Still"

Christy Davis personally knows how important the work for the CUE Center for Missing Persons is.

The group led a search of an Easley property Saturday, hoping to uncover clues in the case of of this year.

“My son Michael Austin Davis has been missing since June 26^th, 2007 out of Jacksonville, Florida,” Davis said.

“We know his last location,” she said. “We know where he was the last time he was seen. People don't just disappear off the face of the earth, but it sure seems like it sometimes, when there is no lead past a certain location. We know he didn't have a vehicle with him. He was on foot, leaving a pawn shop, walking down the road – and that's it.

“When law enforcement had done all that they could do, the family reached out to CUE Center for Missing Persons,” Davis said.”We received help immediately. We received all the support in the world.

The search is ongoing for Michael, she said.

“He's not been found yet,” Davis said. “As a mother, I'll tell you that I'll never give up. I'll never stop searching. I'll bring him home.”

She's asked if she think her son is alive or dead.

“Whatever circumstance he's in, I want to bring him home still,” Davis said. “And most families feel that way, even if they suspect their loved one has died.”

Davis said the CUE Center has given her and her family so much, that she wanted to help them.

“Law enforcement has limitations, and once a certain period of time has gone by, and there's no clues and no leads, their hands are tied to somewhat of a degree,” she said. “The CUE Center has continued an awareness campaign. We've done multiple searches – I can't even tell you how many right off the top of my head, how many searches we've done.

“When you've been given to over and over and over again, then you begin to realize some of your peace is going to come from helping somebody else,” Davis continued. “I know what it feels like for a parent or a sibling, it doesn't matter what the family relation is, a loved one, I know what it feels like to not know where that loved one is, day after day.”

In the time just after Michael disappeared, Davis said she would meet families whose own loved ones had been missing for many years.

“I thought, 'How do they get through it?'” she recalled. “How do they go three years, five years, ten years? And of course now I'm there – and the way you do it is by a support system that backs you up at all levels.”

“To me, I find peace being on a search for somebody else's loved one,” Davis said. “I hope to bring answers to that family. Even once I find my son, I'll continue doing that. Once you become involved and it hits home and it's personal, you don't ever forget. When you can relate to those families, it means a lot. It means a lot to me, even if I can't bring my son home, I can help bring somebody's else's home.”

Davis is a canine handler. Her dog received its national certification in April, and they've been on multiple searches since then.

More than 10,000 people, many active or retired law enforcement officers, work with the CUE Center for Missing Persons in assisting law enforcement in the search for missing persons, according to CUE Center Monica Caison.

Keeping the search for Michael, or any adult, in the public eye is important, Davis said.

“Unfortunately, my son was 26 years old when he disappeared, and a male, an adult male,” Davis said. “What's the first thing that pops into your mind?” Davis said. “Oh, you know, he might have gone cross-country, might have decided 'I'm done with this town.' Family members know the difference. I knew my son hadn't decided to go to some other state. I knew immediately there was something wrong.”

Adult disappearances often don't get the media attention child disappearances or abductions do, she said.

“That's the only way you get leads,” Davis said. “In the eyes of the public, a lot of times, an adult, you don't get the media attention,” Davis said. “We had to fight to get attention, because he's an adult male. It doesn't matter how old they are. It doesn't matter how young they are. That person is somebody's child.”