Missing Ross mother on minds of loved ones

Jamie Peterson still resides in the day-to-day lives of those closest to her.

The Ross mother of two was 30 when she disappeared from her home one year ago Wednesday.

“We still talk about her in the present, never in the past,” said her mother, Darlene Peterson of Bellevue. “We still have those days where we feel like we can't go on and the days when she's really on our minds. Sometimes it's really difficult.”

Family and friends will hold a candlelight vigil outside Jamie Peterson's North Fremont Avenue home at 8:30 p.m. to mark the anniversary of her disappearance.

“We want people to be aware that we're still searching for her,” Darlene Peterson said.

Ross police said their investigation produced several leads but nothing that revealed where the Northgate High School and Rosedale Technical Institute graduate went.

Detective Brian Kohlhepp said police reviewed aspects of her life. No one tried to access her credit cards or bank account, Kohlhepp said.

“We never named a clear person of interest but we have and continue to look into a number of different people,” he said.

Police said Peterson's ex-boyfriend was the last person to see her, when he went to her home to pick up clothing. Peterson had ended their five-year relationship three weeks earlier. The Tribune-Review could not reach her ex-boyfriend and police would not talk about him.

Peterson's children, Elijah, 11, and Daisy, 13, came home from school that day to find her green Nissan Sentra outside but their mother gone, along with her purse and cell phone.

The last signal from her phone came from a tower near Northview Heights housing complex in the North Side. Police searched the area, as did a private search party led by Jamie's father, Jim Peterson of Ross, in October. Neither search produced any clues.

“Either somebody's holding her against her will and she's still alive, or she's dead and we just don't have her body for closure,” Jim Peterson said. “It just gets to a point that so much time goes by that it's really far-fetched to fathom that she's still alive.”

Darlene Peterson, who gained custody of her grandchildren, remains optimistic that her daughter will return.

“We've all heard stranger things, of people eventually turning up after years of being missing,” she said. “We do still have a good bit of hope.”

Police describe Peterson as white, 5-feet, 3-inches tall, with a stocky build, shoulder-length brown hair with blond streaks and green eyes. Among her multiple tattoos are a butterfly on her neck, a purple bear on her left arm, a cross on her left shoulder and a purple rose on her right breast.

Ross police ask anyone with information about her whereabouts to contact the department at 412-931-9070.

Adam Brandolph is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-391-0927 or abrandolph@tribweb.com.