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Patty Vaughan’s family seeks answers 10 years later
Victoria Dixon
Wilson County News
May 9, 2007 | 1 comment
PLEASANTON -- Family and friends of Patty Vaughan are still hoping to recover her body despite the fact that she disappeared more than 10 years ago. A two-day dig, at a construction dump site used by Patty’s husband, Jerry Ray “J.R.” Vaughan, around the time of her disappearance, was conducted April 28-29, in the hope of attaining that goal. No body or other evidence in the case was recovered.
The dig was made possible by donations of time, equipment, and money. Some of the volunteers were family and friends of Patty’s, others merely knew of her case and offered to do what they could.
Monica Caison and Mark Benson, from a missing persons group in North Carolina called the Community United Effort (CUE) Center, provided the ground-penetrating radar unit that was vital to the search.
According to Barb Kinsey, Patty’s cousin, the cost for this type of equipment can range from $6,000 to $10,000 per day. The couple brought the equipment from Ohio and performed a full excavation of the site.
Another stranger giving aid to the search was Zane Lancaster from Lancaster Excavation in Lampasas. He left his home at 3 a.m., made the more than three-hour drive to Pleasanton, and ran his backhoe for 17 straight hours. His only charge for all this was a request to cover his gas costs for the drive to and from Pleasanton.
Tim Miller, with a Houston missing persons organization, Texas Equusearch, also offered his services on the second day of the dig.
Kinsey said she was amazed by the kindness of these strangers. They excavated an area nearly three-quarters the size of a football field, to a depth of 14 feet. They worked through mud, rock, bugs, and lots of rain, for 17 hours without a complaint, she said.
Even though the dig did not finally answer the question of where Patty was, it gave the family vital information about where she was not.
The family is not holding out hope that they will ever find Patty alive, nor do they continue to search in an attempt to seek closure, Kinsey said. Their only wish now is to recover her body in order to bring her murderer to justice. “It is very hard in the state of Texas to get a conviction without a body,” Kinsey said.
Details about
the disappearance
Patty was last seen on Christmas day in 1996. Her estranged husband, J.R., told authorities at that time that Patty left the home following a heated argument.
The following day, her van was found deserted 20 miles away from her home. Although the carpet was still wet from being shampooed, the police recovered blood evidence in the van. More blood was found in Patty’s home. DNA tests confirmed both to be Patty’s blood.
Everyone who knew Patty felt 100-percent certain that she would never have abandoned her three children, then ages 9, 7, and 5. This belief, combined with the blood evidence, was proof to her family and friends that she had met with foul play.
In the 10 years since the disappearance, the Wilson County and Bexar County Sheriff’s offices have searched various locations, based on tips received from different sources, to no avail.
This most recent search puts one more checkmark to the list, Kinsey said. The Bexar County Cold Case Division continues to work on the case, and “they are doing a great job,” Kinsey said.
All the initial reward money and donations to benefit the search for Patty have been used up, Kinsey said, but she has plans to create a new fund.
Anyone with information about the disappearance, or looking to aid in the search can find information at www.findpattyvaughan.com.
vdixon@wcn-online.com |
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Jennifer Perez
May 9, 2007 8:55am
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