CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. -- Friday marks one year since a Citrus County grandmother went missing. Carol McHugh, 72, was last seen in the Inverness area.
- Citrus County grandma still missing after 1 year
- Carol McHugh last seen in Inverness area
- Family still holding out hope
- Investigators looking for any leads
"Unfortunately we've not been able to find a single piece of evidence that we can tie our case up with," Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast said.
Hearing about the lack of evidence in this case is tough for Carol McHugh's family.
"There are days where it's hard to be hopeful and I think that's human nature. You know your heart hurts because you don't have answers, you don't have facts that you can go on, but you know in those darkly imaginative days that's what family is for--we help each other through it. But I'd say largely we are very hopeful and it's because we don't have a definitive no,” Carol’s granddaughter, Dani Phillips, said.
Carol was last seen on Regency Row in Inverness on June 8, 2017. The Sheriff's Office searched all over the area for five days before they called off the search. Since then, the investigation hasn't stopped. However, investigators say they're in need of new information to keep moving forward.
"In cases like this where we don't have evidence, missing person cases are very tough to solve and they may go on for a very long time," Sheriff Prendergast said.
"If you think whatever you saw was insignificant it's not -- please call us. My detectives know if a lead comes in about Miss Carol they drop everything and start working on that lead that day," Sergeant Stephen Conely added.
Phillips said she and her family haven't given up hope. They still long for the day when they'll all be reunited.
"I'm hoping that she's healthy and she's somewhere where she's safe and that she has people who love her based on the last year of interacting with her and who are going to help her find us," she explained.
The Sheriff's Office also encourages residents to call them right away if a loved one has gone missing. They have scent kits and a special persons registry that they say can help if they have to search for someone.
