Family and friends unite to commemorate first Nebraska Missing Persons Day

Laughter mixed with somber sobs Thursday morning at the First Christian Church near downtown Lincoln.

Friends and family of missing persons were gathered at the church to commemorate the inaugural Nebraska Missing Persons Day.

Sprawled out across the church floor were the names of about 600 Nebraska residents who went missing some time from 1971 to 2023. The names show all who attended the event that they are not alone.

"My idea was to bring some kind of visualization to the missing in Nebraska," said Phillipa Corder, who made the exhibit of the missing residents' names. "People don't understand the amount of people in Nebraska that are missing."

Nebraska Missing Persons Day became official in April when Gov. Jim Pillen signed LB1102 after the bill was introduced in January.

The day will be acknowledged on Oct. 17 yearly, the day Regina Bos went missing 24 years ago after leaving an open mic event at a downtown Lincoln bar.

Bos' sister, Jannel Rap, advocates for missing people. She started an organization to help locate missing people across the United States known as GINA, named after her sister. Rap served as the master of ceremonies for the event.

"This feels like an honor and a privilege for my sister's disappearance date to have meaning for Nebraska's missing from now on," she said.

The event featured five speakers who have loved ones who are missing, and it featured the cases of 15 missing people.

One of the speakers was Edward Smart, whose then 14-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Smart, was abducted at knifepoint from her bedroom in Utah and held captive for nine months before later being rescued and reunited with her family.

"Not knowing is the worst part," Edward Smart said. "It's like an open wound festering inside of you."

During his speech, Smart stressed the importance of awareness and reminded all in attendance that answers are out there and miracles do happen.

Nancy Bird made a road trip to Lincoln from New Jersey to attend the event and talk about her husband, David Bird, who went missing from his home in 2014 after going for a walk.

After she and others searched for 14 months, David Bird was found dead by two men canoeing on the Passaic River near his home.

"I consider us one of the lucky ones," Nancy Bird said.

Through her ordeal of 14 months of uncertainty about what happened to her husband, Nancy Bird found community with other families looking for their loved ones.

She talked about speaking out about missing person cases and spreading information as much as possible since you never know who may have information that may help locate someone.

Jerica Hamre's case was also featured at the event . Hamre was last seen June 25 at her home near North 35th Street and Huntington Avenue. A family member reported her missing to the Lincoln Police Department on July 3.

Investigators view her disappearance as suspicious because she reported an assault that occurred a few days before she was last seen. Police have spoken to those involved in the assault, but there have been no further updates on her whereabouts.

Another featured case was that of Tyler Goodrich, whose disappearance became a national story last year , being noted on programs such as Dateline.

Goodrich went missing on Nov. 3 after the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office was called to his house on reports of a domestic disturbance.

According to Investigator Jeremy Schwarz with the Sheriff's Office, Goodrich left the house on foot after he noticed his husband had called 911.

Schwarz said deputies tried to locate Goodrich after speaking with his husband. They also walked through the home and saw no signs of a major disturbance.

The Sheriff's Office does believe there was a minor physical encounter between the spouses that led to the authorities being called.

Investigators have combed over Goodrich's digital and financial records and have not seen anything unusual or any indications of where he may have gone or where he might be now.

"We reached out to our local FBI counterparts here in Lincoln, and we gave them a couple of hourlong presentations on the investigation to that date," Schwarz said. "And really, what came out of that was we had gone above and beyond. We had done almost everything that they could think of."

When asked about the strangest aspect of Goodrich's disappearance, Schwarz referenced the fact he has not been seen or heard from, considering the commitments he had the weekend he went missing and his family connections to the area.

Goodrich's father, Lonnie Goodrich, participated in Thursday's event.

"It's a long time coming to have Nebraska Missing Persons Day on the calendar," he said.

But Lonnie Goodrich did recognize the bittersweet feelings a day like Thursday can bring up.

"Emotionally, it is a very difficult day, but the amount of love and support that has been shown by the community of Lincoln and Bennet has been beyond reason," he said.

The event was concluded by Rap and a choir of friends and family of the missing singing a song written by Rap, inspired by her sister's disappearance.

The song is titled "October 17." During one section, the performers started singing about the dates loved ones went missing while the families held up poster boards of missing Nebraskans.

Lincoln Police Chief Michon Morrow attended the event, saying it was important to her.

"It was a very emotional event, and I know law enforcement staff is trying the best they can," she said.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7254 or .

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