CLEVELAND — Ten years have ticked by since a Cleveland teen went missing on the way home to her 17th birthday party.
Family and friends of Amanda Berry met Sunday at 6 p.m. to fulfill a promise to their loved one: We will not forget.
As they hold a vigil each year, they hope the people of Cleveland will not forget either, and believe someone out there has information that will break the case.
Their gathering place is significant. Outside of the Burger King where Berry worked on West 110th Street and Lorain Avenue.
On April 21, 2003, Berry called her sister to tell her she was getting a ride home from work.
After that, she seemingly disappeared.
In the years that followed, Berry’s family was plagued with the grief of not knowing what happened to her.
In 2006, Berry’s mother died, many said of a broken heart.
Then in July of 2012 came a tip that could have led to countless answers.
A search was launched after an inmate from the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville sent law enforcement a letter indicating that he knew the location of Berry’s body.
Cleveland Police and the FBI dug up a vacant lot at West 30th Street and Wade Avenue, but the tip turned out to be a hoax.
Robert Wolford, 25, pleaded guilty to obstructing justice, making false alarms and falsification and was sentenced to 54 months in jail.
He was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
Berry’s sister, Beth Serrano, told Fox 8 News she was relieved nothing was found during the search.
“I’m grateful it’s not her because I still have hope and I can still pray that my sister is coming home,” she said.
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