Searching for Hailey, My Last Day...

Monday was my last day in Colorado City, and it wasn't a moment too soon. And on this day there wasn't a whole lot going on. I had forgotten it was Martin Luther King Day, so the "official" search had kind of taken the weekend off, publicly at least. Monday had also marked the three week mark since she had last been seen. I drove around the city for a while and talked to the reporter to see if she was working on anything in particular. But, at least I didn't have to write the story. After coming up with nothing in Colorado City I decided to drive up to Dunn, the small town about 15 miles north where much of the searching was going on.

On the bridge in the town there was a huge memorial set up for Hailey. Over 100 stuffed animals lined the bridge along with letters and posters of support. It was both really cool to see the outpouring of support and sad because of the whole situation. It was also the meeting place for the unofficial search parties. So, I hung out there hoping one of the groups would show up. I spent about an hour sitting in my car, listening to the radio. Then a couple ladies showed up with their kids. There were from Colorado City, they all stood around and prayed together, and then the kids spent a few minutes looking at all the letters and stuffed animals. It made for a really nice moment. After another long wait, the Hailey's Angels group, the few ladies that spent pretty much every day out there looking for them showed up. I spoke with them for a while and followed them to the next place they were looking. It worked out really well, because the light was nice. And even though I only had about 40 minutes to spend with them when we finally got to the place I got a couple nice shots. Thank God! A couple hours earlier I was afraid I wouldn't get anything.