‘It’s a silent epidemic’: Heather Elvis’ family raises awareness for missing persons cold cases

HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - The family of Heather Elvis, who’s been missing for more than 10 years, honored her birthday Sunday by raising awareness for missing persons.

“It’s a silent epidemic,” Debbi Elvis said.

Debbi is Heather’s mother.

She said there are more than 600,000 missing persons across the country, including more than 90 here in Horry and Georgetown counties.

But one hits especially close to home.

“Our daughter, Heather, is a missing person, and we don’t have anything else that we can do,” Debbi said.

Heather, who has been missing since Dec. 18, 2013, would turn 31 on Sunday.

Debbi said birthdays and holidays are hard, and it was that feeling of not being able to do much for the investigation that led to her becoming an advocate.

“To get through today, this is what we’re doing,” she said. “We’re not just trying to help our daughter; we’re trying to help those other families that feel the same way. That what do you do now? What’s next? And their hands are tied; there’s nothing they can do. So we can do this; we can put the awareness out there.”

She said the event at River City Cafe on Dick Pond Road honoring her missing daughter on her birthday helped raise money for CUE; it’s an organization that tirelessly works to find missing persons, just like Heather.

“They need funding for their animals, their search dogs, their horses, their search teams to stay in hotels. It’s a completely volunteer organization; no one makes any money,” Debbi said.

Horry and Surfside Beach police were also there on Sunday, raising awareness of how to keep your kids safe.

Those in attendance painted rocks, another nod to Heather’s passions continuing, even in her absence.

“Heather was very artsy,” Debbi recalled. “She liked to leave her mark on everything. Whether it was drawing, painting, putting handprints on stuff, scratching and etching. There was a lot of art involved with Heather. She was very creative.”

There are some things to remember to keep your kids safe.

“Knowing their parents names and phone number is very important and not the stranger danger thing, but don’t talk to people that you don’t know,” Debbi said. “No adult needs to ask a child for help. And if an adult is asking a child for help, they need to know to turn around and walk to their adult.”

As the sun sets on another birthday, the Elvis family continues searching for answers but also working to spread awareness for all missing persons.

WMBF News continues to follow updates in Heather’s case.

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