LIBERTY, Mo. — A pink light always shines from the porch of Desirea Ferris’s Liberty home. It’s a symbol of hope for her family that one day they’ll have her back home.
The 18-year-old has been missing for exactly six months.
Ferris’s mother, Patti Tam, showed us her daughter’s bedroom, in hopes that whoever knows where she’s at will have a heart and speak up.
“When I’m having my moments, I will come down here and just sit on her bed,” Tam said.
Ferris’s room is decorated with pinks and purples. Frilly, bright blue and green curtains hang on the window. Her makeup bag and hair straightener lay where they always have, in front of her pink-framed mirror. Pink sparkly lights shine around her closet door. Pictures of loved ones and Bruno Mars are everywhere.
Those are signs of a happy girl.
“She can always make anybody smile,” Tam said. “She was just so outgoing.”
Keeping her room exactly the same gives Tam some peace of mind.
“Deep down, I don’t think she’s with us anymore,” Tam said.
Showing intimate details of Ferris’s home life is a plea to those who know where she’s at.
“This house, it’s just not a home anymore because Desirea just kept everybody going,” Tam said.
Ferris left home on May 1 and never came back. Police say she went missing in the early morning hours of May 2. That’s when all her social media and phone activity stopped. It’s unlike her because Tam says Ferris is such a mama’s girl.
“We know the story of what happened. We know who is involved. That’s not important. What we want to know is where she’s at,” a family friend, Spike, said.
Spike has dedicated countless hours searching and tracking down the people who were with Ferris last.
“Bad thing is, a lot of this stuff happens. Girls go missing. A lot of families don’t get out and look. This family’s out looking. This family has got people out looking. This girl’s not going to be forgotten. We will find her,” Spike said.
With 446 girls and women on Missouri’s missing list, many times families won’t get answers unless they put in a lot of work.
“If there is somebody out there that knows something that has had dealings in the past with law enforcement that doesn't want to speak with law enforcement, but will speak to a family member, that’s fine,” Sergeant Bill Lowe with Missouri Highway Patrol said.
The problem is, Spike passes on crucial information to police, but no action has been taken.
Liberty Police told 41 Action News they don’t have a body or probable cause yet, and until they do, Ferris will remain a missing person.
Police say they’ve gotten hundreds of tips and have people they’re focusing on.
“Everybody that was involved in that night has kids and grandkids, and if it was one of theirs I guarantee they’d be wanting somebody to step up,” Tam said.
“There’s been so many days where it’s just like, this is the break, this is the one missing piece. And I think we’re really close,” Spike said.
Their goal is to find Ferris before it snows.
“The thought that I might never get to see her big, brown eyes, or her smile, or hear her say, ‘I love you, mom.’ That’s the hardest part,” Tam cried.
On Sunday, the family will hold a balloon release at Ferris's father and stepmother's home.
Anyone with information about Desirea Ferris’s whereabouts can call police anonymously.
