The mother of a missing Milwaukee girl finally had the chance to say thank you to the stranger who brought her family a little bit of peace.
"By the grace of God you all stumbled upon her remains and I just want to say thank you," cries Olivia Coats, Stephanie Myles' mother, into the phone.
It was the first time Coats had an opportunity to talk with the man who found her daughter's remains.
Myles went missing in December 2014. She was on her way to Walgreens when she vanished. She would have been 20 years old on May 25. Her mom had been holding out hope she would get to celebrate another birthday with her daughter. But now they are doing it without her.
"We have been looking for her for 14 months," Coats says.
She suspected something must have happened the night in 2014 when Stephanie went out to buy juice for her sick son, and did not come home.
"There is no way she would not call. I knew there was something wrong," Coats says.
Stephanie was 18 years old. She was supposed to graduate from high school that spring. Since she disappeared, her mom spent weeks bedridden, only able to leave the house to search for Stephanie.
"I kept missing days, and I'm missing weeks," Coats says.
Finally in February a knock on their front door brought the news her mother had been fearing. Police were there to tell her Stephanie had been found.
Her mom says knowing she is no longer a missing person has brought her some relief, but not much.
"It's better that I don't have to keep searching and wondering. I'm glad I got closure. But it's still hard," Coats says.
Police have classified Stephanie's disappearance as a homicide. They are still searching for the person responsible. If you know anything you are asked to contact Milwaukee Police.
