Roberta Adams said she and her family try to stay strong. Sometimes, it isn't so easy. It was one year ago today that Adams' sister, Lilburn resident Leslie Marva Adams, went missing.
No one is known to have seen her since.
"You just don't get a solid night's sleep," said Adams, also of Lilburn. "You wake up in the middle of the night, and it's the first thing that comes to your mind."
At 2 p.m. today, friends and family of Leslie Adams will honor the anniversary with a march from her former residence on Jodeco Circle in Lilburn to Lilburn City Park. There, Phyllis Adams, mother of Leslie, will be presented with a proclamation declaring the day "Missing Persons Awareness Day" in Lilburn.
After the proclamation, candles will be lit, songs sung and a dove released.
Credit: photo by Sarah Ianacone/special
Credit: photo by Sarah Ianacone/special
Roberta Adams said 50 family members, many of whom will have come from Pennsylvania, and another 100 friends are expected.
"It's going to be a touching but happy time for all of us," she said. "We're all going to be together."
Leslie Adams was first reported missing Oct. 24 of last year. A hairstylist, she was 40 at the time of her disappearance.
Five days before, she had sought a temporary restraining order against her ex-boyfriend, saying she feared for her life.
The man, Billy Joe Cook, denied having anything to do with the disappearance. Cook has since been returned to jail for violating his parole from an earlier conviction, Gwinnett County police Detective Marcus Head said.
Cook also is awaiting possible indictment on pending aggravated stalking charges involving Adams, Head said.
Earlier in the year, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation had 2,180 missing persons cases, bureau spokesman John Bankhead said.
"I'm going to bring awareness to the county and Atlanta and the state of Georgia that this is becoming a big thing," Roberta Adams said.
"Something's wrong somewhere -- domestic violence, just people going missing for no reason at all."
After a year, she will not give up the hope that her sister will one day return.
"We want to find her," she said. "That's the bottom line."
Anyone with information on Leslie Adams is asked to call Gwinnett police at 770-513-5300.
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