SULLIVAN, Mo. — The family of a Missouri woman is still hoping someone knows what happened to Betty.
Tonya Miller gave an interview to 5 On Your Side the day after the four-year anniversary. Her family is no closer to knowing what happened to her mother, 72-year-old Betty Alexander.
Alexander disappeared from her Sullivan, Missouri, apartment without a trace on April 10, 2019.
Betty is a white woman who would now be 73 years old. She is 4 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 145 pounds. She has dark brown hair with blonde highlights and blue eyes.
"It’s been a long search for answers. She was last seen at her apartment complex on April 10. That was the last time anyone had spoken to her," Miller said.
Miller recalled the events of that day.
She said a cleaning employee came in and said her mother was in good spirits.
"Her neighbor had seen her working in her garden. The last that she was seen was that afternoon. She took her medication that night at seven because it wasn’t there and the following day, that medication was still there," Miller said.
Miller said her glasses were left on the arm of the couch.
"That's the thing that really bothers me, she didn’t go anywhere without putting her glasses on. It makes me believe something happened. She didn’t get up and go anywhere," Miller said with tears in her eyes.
Alexander’s purse and keys were also found in the apartment, but her daughter said there was one item missing: a box of fentanyl patches. The box had just been delivered, but it was not located in her apartment.
Miller noted her mom used the fentanyl patches for back pain.
She also noticed there was an extra $200 in her purse and they can't track down where that came from.
"There was a scratch on the glass of the screen door, as if maybe there was a struggle at the door. Somebody had to see something, it’s too small of a town, people don’t just vanish. She didn’t drive, she didn’t go for walks, she couldn’t operate a cell phone or computer," Miller said.
Within the last few months, the Missouri State Highway Patrol stepped in to help with the case.
The group did a search of the area near the apartment but left empty-handed.
As for the main detective dedicated to the case, he recently retired.
Miller shared with a quavering voice, "It’s kind of left me feeling alone. He knew the whole case. I'm worried it’ll get lost."
In the last few days, she's reached out to two different FBI offices and shared flyers in the town that's sixty-eight miles from downtown St. Louis.
"It just feels like we can’t get any one to help on our case. I’m afraid it’s going to become cold and we’ll never have answers. There are so many milestones mom is missing," she said. "I know after four years we probably don’t have any chance of getting the good news but I have to still hope for a miracle. I know they do happen. I know there is a chance."
A Facebook page, "Bring Betty Home," shares updates and works to keep her case top of mind.
"Since you have been missing our lives have been crushed by so much heartache from not having you here with us and not knowing if you are ok somewhere or not," read a post from Monday. "We keep a chair open for you every holiday."
There were some tips that came in, but those calls happen less often now.
Miller is now waiting for someone to come forward with new information that could crack the case open.
Miller told 5 On Your Side, she believes even if it's something small, it's a clue that could give them closure.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Betty Alexander was asked to call Sullivan police at 573-468-8001.
There is a $20,000 reward for anyone with information that helps find Alexander.