Aliya Lindsey wants her sister to be home for the holidays. But with each passing day, she knows it’s less likely she’ll come home alive.
“There’s just so many stories going on out there, and the only story that seems to ever stick is that she’s not alive,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey said Ward-Romine was staying in her Indian Lake home but left July 5 to go back to live with her husband at their Avondale Avenue home. On July 6, Lindsey said Ward-Romine called her and asked if she could pick her up on Sunday. That was their last conversation.
“It’s been hard,” Lindsey said while tears streamed down her face.
Ward-Romine was not reported missing until Aug. 7, because family did not realize they had not been in contact with her until then. Her disappearance has not been classified as a homicide by the Springfield Police Division.
While she’s still considered a “missing person,” the family believes she is dead. Now they want to find her body and gain closure.
“All I want to do is get my daughter home,” said Karl Ward. “Somebody knows what happened. There’s no such thing as a perfect crime.”
Texas Equusearch, a mounted search and recovery team known for trying to locate the body of Casey Anthony’s daughter and for helping search for a missing Fairfield, Ohio, woman, has agreed to help search for Ward-Romine’s body, her father said. The company confirmed Monday they have been in contact with Ward-Romine’s family but did not release further details on the search. Ward said discussions indicate the search will center in Clark and Logan counties.
To help generate leads, the family has also planned a candlelight vigil for Thursday, beginning at 6 p.m. It will be held at the intersection of Market Place and Center Street, near 101 S. Fountain Avenue.
Ward-Romine is described as 5-foot, 2-inch woman who weighs about 130 pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes. She has a tattoo of a fish on the right side of her neck, the name “Danny” tattooed on her right foot and “Romine” tattooed on her left foot.
There may be no hope for Ward-Romine’s safe return, Lindsey said, but she still prays they’ll find her body, and with it, some closure.
“That probably bothers me the very most, knowing that she is lying out there in the cold or in the water, (and) there’s nothing I can do to try to protect her or save her,” Lindsey said. “All we want is for her to be found.”
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