FEB 14, 2020
The massive search for Faye Swetlik ends near where it began — steps from her home
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On Friday afternoon, Faye’s missing person flyer still hung in the doors of a few of Cayce’s gas stations. ...
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It’s a close-knit type of town, said FM. A family-type of place.
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On Tuesday morning, he removed the block lettering of his business sign. It said something about cold weather and antifreeze, but none of that didn’t matter anymore.
“Pray for Faye,” it now says on one side. His wife, Donna, wrote “God Bless Faye!” on the other.
It was a small thing, he knows. Just 24 letters.
But as he rearranged the letters, he thought that maybe, just maybe, the family would drive by and find some comfort on the sign. A moment of relief might help, he thought, and it’s all that he could do.
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TD didn’t know Faye’s name until Monday evening, but she knew her face.
She said the always-smiling girl sat at her Waffle House counter on Saturday mornings. Her order was a waffle, no syrup. She dipped pieces into butter instead.
Faye was at that Waffle House on Saturday, TD said. It is so close to her house that she could have walked there.
They talked about how Faye’s next stop was a music shop. She was going to buy her cousin new guitar strings for his birthday.
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When TD finished her shift Friday afternoon, she decided to do something for Faye. She worried that it might be corny or silly or too small to matter. That worry faded in a moment.
She packed up a waffle for her. She placed it next to a unicorn stuffed animal at the Churchill Heights memorial.
TD would drive home next. Her two boys, 10 and 8, would be back from school soon.
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It was a sunny, warm Friday afternoon. They would want to play in their back yard, she was sure of it. Maybe they’d want to ride their bikes.
She would sit outside with them, no matter what they wanted to do. She would keep them in her sight.
She would never be more than just steps away.
