April 26, 2010
Author: Nelson Morais
Source: The Newport Plain Talk
NEWPORT-Tomorrow, April 26, will mark the one-year anniversary of the day that Newport teenager Megan Maxwell disappeared.
Megan Maxwell, 19, disappeared last year on an early Sunday morning, on April 26. Her 2001 Mitsubishi was found burned later that morning.
Her mother, Lisa Maxwell; sister, Stephanie; and grandmother, Judy O'Neil, will mark the solemn anniversary by planting a Bradford Pear tree in memory of Megan, in the front yard of O'Neil's home at 859 Brookside Drive in Newport. Megan lived with her grandmother several months prior to disappearing.
Mother dreading one-year anniversary
Megan Maxwell's mother, Lisa Maxwell, said Friday she feels "awful" about, and is "really, really dreading," the arrival of Monday and the one-year anniversary.
Lisa Maxwell flew to South Carolina on Saturday, April 24, to comfort the family of Britanee Drixille, who disappeared in Myrtle Beach on almost the same day last year that Megan Maxwell did. Megan and Britanee were also the same age at the time they disappeared, according to Lisa Maxwell.
"We're going to rally for Britanee, Megan, and others, with banners, posters, and a walk," Lisa Maxwell said.
Lisa Maxwell said of her trip to Myrtle Beach that she plans to comfort others, and hopefully be comforted herself in return.
"There are no words to describe" what she is going through because of Megan Maxwell's disappearance, Lisa Maxwell said.
She said people are simply incapable of understanding what she has gone through, and is going through, unless they have experienced a similar tragedy in their lives.
"I'm hoping it (the trip) will help Lisa to go and talk to some people in the same situation we are in," O'Neil said.
Grandmother describes 'long, rough year'
"It's been a long, rough year," O'Neil recalled. She added, "We never dreamed when she disappeared that it would be a year and we still hadn't found her."
Lisa Maxwell said, 'I'm trying to be as positive as I can, but dreading it (the one-year anniversary). I can't believe it's been this long. It seems like it's been 10 years to me" that her daughter has been gone.
When asked if the longer Megan Maxwell is missing, the harder it becomes on her emotionally, Lisa Maxwell answered "yes".
Lisa Maxwell said there will more searches for Megan Maxwell's body, and more candlelight vigils once Lisa is off for the summer from her job at Douglas Cherokee Head Start.
No helpful leads so far
Of the past year's attempts to find Megan, Lisa Maxwell said, "We thought if we could find some clothes (of Megan's) -- but we haven't found anything."
Lisa Maxwell also said, "We're just going to keep on" searching for Megan Maxwell, possibly conducting more searches of areas that were searched last year. "You never know. We may have overlooked something," she said.
Megan Maxwell was last heard from at 4:27 a.m. on that fateful Sunday morning.
Hollie Lane, a very close friend of Megan Maxwell, was to spend the night with her at the house of Megan Maxwell's grandmother. While driving back to the house, she passed by the Mineral Street residence of Steve Maxwell, Megan Maxwell's father, saw police were there, and called to inform Megan Maxwell, who had gone to bed. It was sometime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.
Megan Maxwell readied herself, got in her Mitsubishi Eclipse, and was about to drive to her father's house, located in front of Union Cemetery, around the time Lane arrived to Megan Maxwell's and her grandmother's home.
Megan drove to her father's house
The two talked briefly in the driveway before Megan Maxwell drove away to her father's house.
Lane said Megan Maxwell called her at 4:27 a.m. and told her "everything was fine and that she was going to smoke a cigarette and would be right home," according to a report with the Cocke County Sheriff's Department.
Megan Maxwell never made it home.
Her mother later stated that she spoke with her ex-husband, Steve Maxwell, and that he told her he had been drinking and remembered their daughter being at his residence, but did not remember her leaving.
Law enforcement officials keep quiet
Law enforcement officials are understandably reluctant to discuss any possible connection between Megan Maxwell's disappearance and Jeffrey Lee Stock, 42, of Del Rio, who was at Megan Maxwell's father's house when she was last heard from that Sunday morning.
Stock has officially been labeled by law enforcement officials as simply "a person of interest," but not a suspect, in the case.
Cocke County Sheriff's Department Detective Derrick Woods arrested Stock, at 3:40 a.m., on Monday, April 27, almost 24 hours after Megan Maxwell was last heard from, for violating the Sex Offender Registry.
Stock was charged with failing to register with the Cocke County Sheriff's Department as required to do so annually on or about his birthday, which is April 7. That is a violation of the Sex Offender Registry.
Stock plead guilty on Sept. 21, 2009, to a federal grand jury indictment charging him with being a convicted sex offender who traveled in interstate commerce without registering.
Jeffrey Stock sentenced on unrelated charge
Last month, Stock was sentenced on that charge to six years in prison by Judge Ronnie Greer, United States District Court Judge, in federal court in Greeneville.
Stock, who has been in federal custody since June 18, 2009, was also ordered to remain on federal supervised release for the remainder of his life.
Lisa Maxwell said she thinks it is very possible that no one other than Stock knows what happened to Megan Maxwell.
Lisa Maxwell said there was a time she wanted to talk to Stock, but not any more. "It would just tear me up" to talk to him, she said.
Even so, Lisa Maxwell said, "Anytime he (Stock) is in a courtroom, I'll be there."
Stock has not been charged in connection with Megan Maxwell's disappearance.
Mother remembers Megan as 'happy'
Lisa Maxwell has described Megan Maxwell as "always happy and always smiling, with a joke to tell you."
Megan Maxwell was "really involved" with cheerleading at Edgemont Elementary School and played tennis three years at Cocke County High School, Lisa Maxwell recalled.
Megan Maxwell said, "She was always a happy girl. She didn't like conflict of any kind and would let people walk all over her."
Megan Maxwell quit CCHS when she was a junior, but had returned to Newport and taken day classes to study for her GED exam. Her mother said she was scheduled to take a GED exam on the Thursday following her disappearance, and planned to graduate soon thereafter with her former classmates in the Class of 2009.
O'Neil, Megan Maxwell's grandmother, said Megan moved to Morristown after she quit high school, returned to Newport for two or three months, where she stayed with O'Neil, then went to Indiana about two or three months with her boyfriend before returning to Newport.
Megan Maxwell had again been living with her grandmother, this time for about six months, up to the day she disappeared.
Investigation continues
District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn said Friday afternoon "even as we speak, investigators are working on that particular case," referring to Megan Maxwell's disappearance.
Leads have come in and not panned out, but Dunn said his office, Det. Derrick Woods, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continue to diligently work on the case.
"We just keep plugging away," Dunn said.
Det. Woods said Friday, "We are continuously (and) aggressively investigating the case" of Megan Maxwell's disappearance. He said he could not provide any further details than what has already been disseminated.
Anyone with information about Megan Maxwell's disappearance and whereabouts can call the Newport Police Department at (423) 623-5556, or the office of District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn at (423) 623-1285.
Lisa Maxwell said Friday, "Megan was a sociable, happy kid who knew no strangers. I can't think of one person who would hurt her. She has so many friends," including people much older than her.
No comments:
Post a Comment