First published: Thursday, March 3, 2005
As Doug and Mary Lyall remember the seventh anniversary this week of the disappearance of their daughter, Suzy, their energies are focused on raising money for a monument to the missing.
The goal is $100,000. So far, $37,000 has been raised for the "Remorial," a word the Lyalls made up "for remembering as opposed to memorializing," Mary Lyall said.
"The connotation of memorial means someone has passed, but we know missing persons have come back; not a great percentage of them, but some."
Recently, Enterprise Rent-A-Car donated $10,000. Other groups and individuals have contributed. The Lyalls' Center for Hope in Ballston Spa administers the fund.
Once built, the monument will be state property and located at the Empire State Plaza. There will be a significant state contribution, as yet undisclosed, Mary Lyall said.
On March 2, 1998, Suzanne Lyall, a 19-year-old sophomore computer science major at UAlbany, is believed to have stepped off a CDTA bus at Collins Circle on the uptown campus at 9:45 p.m. after working at a computer store at Crossgates Mall. She has not been seen since.
"How difficult this is for us," the mother said. "Seven years is a long time. I'd thought we'd have all sorts of information by now. I know there's somebody out there who knows what happened to Suzy that night."
"Please come forward and tell someone so we can resolve our problems. It's a nightmare we haven't woken up from, and I don't think we are going to wake up until we know where she is."
The Lyalls want the project to become a national monument. In New York, more than 4,000 are missing; in the United States, more than 90,000. Loved ones "need a place to go and grieve," she said.
The couple worked with architect Bill O'Connor, Office of General Services deputy commissioner, who designed the state's World War II monument at the plaza.
A friend, Bob D'Alessandro of Scotia, made a miniature of the design -- a 16-foot structure with four floating glass panels supported by stainless steel columns. There will be an eternal flame and a message etched in the glass: "As a symbol of eternal HOPE may this flame light their way home."
"We wanted it to reflect light because we are still waiting for these people to come home, like a light in the window," she said.
In 2002, the Lyalls went to Ireland to participate in the dedication of a memorial to missing persons. "We came back with all sorts of excitement," Mary Lyall said. "If they can do that in Ireland, why can't we do something like this in America?"
Times Union
Special thanks to Carol DeMare.