She came back from a business trip and woke up the next morning to find her husband still asleep. Like always, she went to the kitchen to make herself coffee. But first, she went to check on her sleeping daughter Emily, who was in her room.
Emily wasn’t in Emily’s room when Laura walked in, even though the bed was made and everything was in order. Laura got scared when she looked in the bathroom and the rest of the house and couldn’t find her daughter.
Emily hadn’t been home before. When she was a teenager, she sneaked out to hang out with her friends and go to parties. But this time, Laura’s gut told her it was different.
“Wake up Rick!” In their bedroom, Laura went back and tried to wake up her husband, who was Emily’s stepfather. “Emily isn’t there!”
“Let me sleep, Laura,” Richard said, sounding sleepy. “She is a teen.” She must have snuck out to meet up with her friends. “Take it easy.”
“Rick, this is very important. Her room is spotless! “Emily would never do that!”
Richard, on the other hand, didn’t seem too worried, possibly because he thought Emily would show up soon.
But Laura knew something wasn’t right. As she went back to the kitchen, she got a text message that said, “Bring $100,000 to the address below if you want your daughter to live.”
Things were getting worse and worse, and it all felt like a bad dream.
Laura called the cops right away. A group of police officers and detectives quickly arrived at Laura’s door. They told her everything would be okay and that they’d do everything they could to find her daughter after she told them what was going on.
Richard woke up and went downstairs when the police showed up.
“Where is Laura?” What is going on? “Why are there police here?”
“Someone took Emily!” she shook in response. “The kidnapper wants a ransom.”
He asked her as he joined her in the living room, “Are you sure it’s not one of Emily’s games?”
She yelled, “Of course it’s not, Rick!” “We need to find her!”
Laura, Richard, and the police went into Emily’s room.
“Does this place lack anything?” Harris, the detective, asked Laura and Richard.
What? “The carpet!” Laura has now seen. “This isn’t it.”
“Do you know anything about it?” Harris, the detective, looked at Richard.
Richard said, “Uh, yeah, I took it to the dry cleaner.”
Harris wrote something down. “Please give me the address of the dry cleaner.”
“Okay, I’ll get it.” “Just a second,” Richard said, and he walked out of the room.
At that very moment, Laura got another text message that said, “You’ll never see your daughter again if you call the police.”
Detective Harris told Mrs. Dennings, “Let’s drop the ransom.” “We can set up near where the package will be dropped off.” It’s the only way to get your daughter back and catch the person who took her.
Say “No way!” Richard complained as he came back with the address. “That’s not safe enough.” If we pay the fee, the bad guys might let her go.
“But Richard, what if they just run off with the money?” She shook her head no. “No. “I believe the police are correct.”
It was decided that fake police would be stationed near the place where the ransom could be dropped.
She drove to the drop-off point the next day, and her only hope was to see her daughter. She stood there and kept looking in the rearview mirror, but no one came up to the oak tree where she had put the money. At night, the police officer knocked on Laura’s car window and told her to go home because the kidnappers had probably changed their minds.
Laura was so upset that when she got home, she went right to Emily’s room. After a while, she saw the carpet.
Her husband asked her, “Doesn’t the carpet look like it’s brand new?”
Laura got down on her knees on the floor. Emily picked out the carpet herself not long ago.
“How is it so new?” Laura asked in a hurry.
“A good cleaner can make a big difference, honey,” Richard said almost too fast.
Emily hasn’t been seen in ten years. Everyone got over it and accepted that she would not be returning. All of them except Laura. There was always a chance that this mother would see her daughter again. Her prayers to God for Emily’s safe return never stopped.
She thought it would be fun to put Emily’s face on posters and put them all over the city one day. She went to an agency and told the worker there her story. They agreed to put up three big banners on the city’s busiest streets.
“The design was simple: a large photo of Emily with her smile frozen in time, and the words ‘Forever missed, forever loved’ written in big, clear letters that could not be missed.” “If you know something, say something” and a call number were written below.
Lawrence putting up the flags made Richard mad. He said she was wasting their money. Lisa, all of our savings are gone! “Just because you put her face all over the city!” he told her.
But at that very moment, someone knocked on the door.
She went to see who it could be. When she opened the door, she was shocked right away. On the front door, there was a young woman. Even though ten years had passed, she knew right away who her daughter was.
Em was there.
“Yes, Mom!” “I’m back home!” She then pulled away and raised one arm to show what she was holding: a carpet. “This was all I had, Mom,” she told him. “And kept it.”
“Who is there?” From inside the house, you could hear Richard’s loud words.
He turned pale when he got close to the front door and saw Emily standing there.
“Richard, what’s wrong?” Emily laughed. “Do you see a ghost?” He is to blame for my absence, Mom!” Emily made a face at Richard.
“What? “That’s not true!” Richard cried to defend him.
Emily, Laura told her, “Come inside.” Laura shut the front door as Emily walked in. She looked at her husband and then at her daughter. What did they do?
“Lie to me, Laura!” Richard screamed. “Don’t pay attention to her!” “She wants to break us up!”
I want to know everything, Emily! While Richard looked away, Laura insisted.
It was ten years ago…
Laura was away on a work trip the day Emily went missing, so she was left with Richard.
Richard was watching TV when Emily got home from school, and he asked her to sit next to him so they could watch the show together. He made her, even though she didn’t want to.
She sat next to him out of fear, but then she realized that her stepdad was touching the bottom of her skirt. He said, “Nice skirt,” which made Emily even more scared than she was before.
He offered to take her shirt off at one point and said, “Come on, Emily.” You’re different now, and you still want me.
Richard ran after Emily as she yelled, “Get away!” and went straight to her room. “Emily, don’t be scared!” He laughed.
“Why are you lying here?” Leave now! She yelled, “This is my room!” “Leave, Richard, or I’ll tell my mom everything!”
Richard laughed out loud. “Do you think she’ll believe them?” He was an adult, but her daughter was too imaginative?”
“She’ll trust me!” I know her!” Emily yelled with confidence. Then she ran to get her phone, but Richard pushed her away.
Emily was in a lot of pain in the head and saw blood on the floor. The next second, she lost consciousness.
She was wrapped in carpet and put in the back of Richard’s truck before he even checked to see if she was still living. Then he started the truck and threw Emily into the river when he got there.
He cleaned up when he got home so Laura wouldn’t think he had anything to do with her daughter going missing.
Right now…
Emily continued, “A few fishermen found me, Mom.” “I was in a nearby town.” A nice family took me in. They also looked for my family, but I couldn’t remember what happened. Everything came back to me when I came back here and saw my face on the billboards: “My home, you, and the terrible night!”
Hey Emily, stop it! Do you really blame me after everything I’ve done for you?” Richard yelled.
The mother was sure her daughter was telling the truth, though.
After she called the police, DNA testing was done to see if the blood on the carpet was Emily’s. It wasn’t a surprise when the findings showed that it was true.
A few months later, Richard got a prison term.
After everything she’s been through, we’re so glad Emily was finally able to go home.
