Update: Search for missing teen has family, police at odds

Alison Morrow Updated: 6/8/2009

The search for missing 19-year-old Megan Maxwell continued Monday afternoon, but Megan's mother, Lisa Maxwell, says it's what didn't happen that grabbed her attention.

"It's been 6 weeks now, and we have nothing. Nothing. I don't understand it," Maxwell said.

Megan went missing on Sunday, April 26. Her car was found burning near the French Broad River, and her whereabouts remain a mystery.

Police quickly launched a search of the river, but Maxwell believes since then, they haven't done enough to bring Megan home.

"The first three days of this, I got on camera, and I bragged about how well the police were doing," Maxwell said. "After that, everything went to nothing."

Last weekend, the Newport Police Department canceled a planned search of a Hamblen County landfill for the second time. They blamed it on logistical complications, but Megan's family says it's just another example of a faulty investigation.

"I'm getting angry. It just seems like we're having to get out here and beg," Maxwell said.

"As time goes on, you feel sad and you feel like Megan's being let down," said Megan's grandmother, Judy O'Neil.

"What if it were their daughter?" Maxwell sighed.

Newport Police Chief Maurice Shults responds that they're doing everything in their power to bring the investigation to a successful end.

"It doesn't look like progress is being made, but we're e-mailing constantly with outside agencies, phone calls, coordinating things," he said.

Chief Shults says they've called in help like the Knox County Rescue Squad and argues combing through miles of water without a lead would be a waste.

"If we start utilizing all our manpower and equipment researching and researching the same places, we're not gaining anything," Shults said. "If I could take Megan home today, it would be the best day of my life."

Chief Shults adds that patience and diligence now may make the difference between a succesful or failed prosecution later.

"We've got to prepare that it may be a while and we want to be thoroughly prepared to place the person who did this, or persons, in prison for the rest of their lives."

But with every hour that passes with no news, Megan's family says waiting gets that much more difficult.

"Each day that goes by is a wasted day," Maxwell said.