New Hampshire Union Leader

January 7, 2014

Missing teen: The FBI said the three-month span does not mean much to the investigation seeking to find the North Conway girl. - Nearly 3 months later, awaiting word from Abigail

By Dan Seufert

Conway -- As the three-month anniversary of the disappearance of 15-year-old Abigail Hernandez nears, her mother says she’s struggling more than ever without her daughter, and she wants Abigail to call home.

“I’m devastated,” Zenya Hernandez said Monday. “I was hopeful during the Christmas holidays that she might contact me again, but nothing has happened.

“I just want to hear her voice,” said her mother, who received a letter from her daughter in early November, but law enforcement officials have asked her not to disclose its contents.

Abigail’s father, meanwhile, posted a new photo of his daughter on Facebook on Sunday, showing her happily sitting at a restaurant counter in front of a dish ice cream.

Law enforcement investigators say that although she disappeared after walking away from Kennett High School on the afternoon of Oct. 9, they aren’t thinking in terms of the calendar.

The FBI’s Kieran Ramsey said the three-month span does not mean much to the investigation. He cited previous cases as examples: In 2011, 11-year-old Celina Cass vanished from her northern New Hampshire home and was found dead a week later, but Maura Murray disappeared in 2004 after a one-car accident on New Hampshire Route 112 in Haverhill and still has not been found.

“We don’t focus on anniversaries,” Ramsey said. “This is a 15-year-old girl. As a parent, I would say that any number of days missing is too many days. I can’t imagine what this must be like for this family.”

The law enforcement efforts to find Abigail continue, he said.

“I don’t want to comment on the size and scale of what we are doing, but the posture of this investigation has not changed. There are still very active efforts going on, between the Conway police, the state police, and the FBI.”

“Sadly, she still hasn’t been found,” Ramsey said.

Meanwhile, a close friend of Abigail wrote a letter to her that was posted Saturday on the Bring Abby Home Facebook page, also asking for contact.

“After almost three months I still can’t wrap my head around it,” the friend wrote.

“Days don’t get any easier as time passes but we learn to carry on. We move forward and push thoughts to the back of our minds. We scale back searches and give up hope.

“I know you’re out there. People want you home, need you home. Please though, if you can’t do that, I hope you’re happy. I hope you’re safe. I hope that whatever decisions you’ve made will someday bring you back to us.”

dseufert@newstote.com