Moment of silence held for missing people in Bonneville County
BONNEVILLE COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) - A moment of silence was held for all missing people in Bonneville County on Thursday.
The county remembers the nine people who have disappeared over the years, on the 22nd anniversary of Amber Hoopes. Sept. 14 officially became recognized as Missing Person's Day in 2006 when her family visited the Idaho Legislature.
While Bonneville County recognizes the nine people who have vanished, the state of Idaho currently has more than 130 cases of missing people.
The county works hard on each individual person's case and follow any lead they receive, even if it may not solve the case. The county also has investigators who come out and allow a fresh set of eyes to give a different perspective on each case.
"What that does is that gives another investigator an opportunity to look at it, see if anything was missed, see if they have a different perspective on something that may that may open that case up," Bonneville County captain Tony Glenn said.
The county appreciates all the tips the community gives to investigate a missing person's case.
"Additionally, any tip that comes in from the the community, the public, our investigators look at all those tips, no matter how insignificant it may sound, they still track all those tips down, work those tips to the to the end till they can they can say the tip is either a valid tip or not a valid tip," Glenn said.
While Sept. 14 still remains an emotional day for Amber Hoopes' family, they hope the anniversary of her disappearance will be a day to remember all those who have gone missing in the state of Idaho.
"So we went to the legislature council and we were able to proclaim September 14th as Idaho Missing Persons Day. So this is a day to remember all of those that are missing, not just Amber," her aunt Audra Burgener said.
The emotional event wants to spread awareness to the community about how everyone can remember their lives, and show the families of people who have disappeared that the county cares about them as individuals. For Amber Hoopes' family, this allows them to remember her life before she was abducted in 2001.
"Oh, she's just such a loving, loving so still so young. She's very, very shy, very family oriented. Our best friend was her little sister. She just she was a nanny for a little while, but very quiet. Very quiet, but very loving girl," Burgener said.
Podcast creator of 'She's Missing', named Emily, talked about the importance of remembering the many lives who have disappeared in Idaho during the conference.
"Let's remember the missing and look for the loss together moving forward. Missing Persons Day will not just be another date on the calendar," Emily said. "We can unite, show respect and take meaningful action. Together, we can bring hope and healing and much needed answers for family who have been waiting for a very long time."
