ID ID - Deborah Dee Sykes, 38, Rathdrum, 13 Feb 2005

Reward offered for info on Idaho woman missing for 7 years

Crime Stoppers of the Inland Northwest is offering a $500 reward for information about a northern Idaho woman who was reported missing more than seven years ago.

Deborah Dee Sykes was last seen sleeping at her Rathdrum home on Feb. 13, 2005.

More: http://www.krem.com/news/local/Rewa...daho-woman-missing-for-7-years-163938506.html

NamUs - https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/2116/45

City of Rathdrum - http://www.rathdrum.org/vertical/si...ds/{A09B77E6-4A0F-41CE-B363-6524FD4A4AAA}.PDF

Charley Project - http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/sykes_deborah.html

Deborah was featured in The Inlander in a great piece about missing persons.


Missing: Deborah Sykes
How a small town deals with the loss of one of its own

Railroad tracks run parallel to Main Street in downtown Rathdrum, like a steel rod holding up a crooked spine. The North Idaho town takes up just eight square miles — most of it trees and open fields — and had a population of a little more than 6,800 in the most recent census. It’s a place where residents like to throw neighborhood block parties in the summer, a town where folks ride bicycles down the center of residential streets and wave at passing cars. People move to Rathdrum because it’s quiet and out of the way. You can know your neighbors here but still be left alone.

Here, when someone disappears, it’s felt in the community. Deborah Sykes, a 38-year-old mother, apparently took off her wedding ring and walked out of her house with no luggage, no purse and just the clothes on her back on Feb. 13, 2005.

MOre: http://www.inlander.com/spokane/article-19685-missing-deborah-sykes.html

Deborah's son posted on reddit a few days ago, a lot of feedback. A decade later and still no answers.

Deborah Sykes’ file on Idaho's Cold Case site:

http://eastidahocoldcasesinc.com/eastcentral-idaho-missing-persons/sykes-deborah-d-rathdrum-idaho-2005/

COLD CASE: Rathdrum woman vanishes without a trace in 2005

All the family of Deborah Sykes says they want is to give her a proper burial and goodbye. Sykes has been missing for more than 10 years now.

"It was really heartbreaking," her daughter Brianna Gendron said. "At the time, it was really hard to understand what missing meant. At that age, you can't comprehend it. You think they're just a phone call away, but they're not."

Deborah Sykes was in her late 30's when she seemingly vanished in February of 2005 in Rathdrum. Brianna has now had just as many years with her mother than she has without her.

Bumping for Deborah, now missing over 15 years...

Missing for 18 years today

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Skyes, circa 2005

• Missing Since 02/13/2005
• Missing From Rathdrum, Idaho
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 01/30/1967 (56)
• Age 38 years old
• Height and Weight 5'8, 125 pounds
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• Clothing/Jewelry Description Black jeans, a black coat with a camel embroidered on the sleeve, white sneakers and earrings.
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• Medical Conditions Sykes suffers from depression and alcoholism. She is in need of medication which she doesn't have with her.
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• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Sykes has previously fractured her right knee and one of her knee joints is artificial. She has a tattoo of a blue heart on her left breast and a tattoo of the Canadian flag on her right hip. Sykes may use the last name Gilchrist. She has broken and discolored teeth.

Details of Disappearance​

Sykes was last seen in the 7100 block of west Winchester Street in Rathdrum, Idaho on February 13, 2005. Her husband went to the grocery store in the morning while she was still in bed, and when he returned, she was gone. She apparently took off her wedding ring and left her house on foot, leaving her purse and all her belongings behind.

Sykes was distraught at the time she went missing, and she was known for drinking heavily. She doesn't have a serious criminal record, but at the time of her disappearance there was a warrant out for her arrest for writing bad checks. She was close to her family and had a reputation as a street-smart woman who could take care of herself.

Sykes had left on her own in the past, but always returned within a day or two. Her family doesn't believe she would have left for this long without contacting her husband or children. Her case remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency​

• Rathdrum Police Department 208-687-0711

Source Information​

• Idaho Bureau of Criminal Investigation
• NamUs
• The Pacific Northwest Inlander
• The Couer D'Alene Press
• KXLY
• East Idaho Cold Cases
• NBC Right Now

Updated 6 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated July 30, 2018; picture added, medical conditions and details of disappearance updated.

Bump for Deborah

Deborah had previously fractured her right knee so one of her knee joints is artificial.

3 Unidentified Person Exclusions