AMHERST CO., Va. – The search for Elsie Wiggington is heating up as we near a year since she disappeared, and 10 News is pushing officials for any insight they can give us regarding her case.
Elsie’s family is trying to stay hopeful she’ll turn up, but also tell us they’re preparing for the worst.
“Just knowing where she’s at so we can give her a burial and helping them work their way through this,” Elsie’s foster sister Tracey Coleman said.
As we reported Wednesday, Elsie’s foster sister Tracey Coleman claims the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office dropped the ball when they reported her missing in June of last year.
“The sheriff’s department at that time did not follow up, did not do their due diligence,” Coleman said.
Now under new leadership, Sheriff Jimmy Ayers said they’re concerned and working with the family, but we wanted more information.
We called the Sheriff several times with no answer and emailed him asking for copies of all missing persons reports filed for Elsie — but haven’t heard back.
Coleman tells us the office there’s a more active investigation happening now.
“They’re doing interviews with people, they have a list of people they’re looking to talk to,” Coleman said.
Coleman told us about a history of abuse between Elsie and her husband, leading her to fear for her life.
“She said, ‘He’s going to kill me,’” Coleman said.
So, we decided to track down her husband to get his side of the story.
We found his Facebook page and messaged him with no response.
And, when we called the number Elsie’s daughter Sativa gave us, it went straight to an automated message saying the call was declined.
The next step was heading to the courthouse. We spent several hours combing through documents looking for anything we could find on Elsie, her case, or her husband — but came up empty-handed.
As of right now, her husband does not appear to have any charges against him.
Coleman said the legislation needs to change when it comes to the policy behind missing persons reports.
“In this day and age when we put men in space and we have nanobots, and we can’t find a human on earth?” Coleman said.
We’re continuing to check court records and keep in touch with Elsie’s family and the sheriff’s office as the investigation continues.