BROOKSVILLE, Ky.
- Hunters were enlisted to search wooded and secluded areas of Bracken County over the weekend for any sign of Erica Lee Fraysure, a 17-year-old from Germantown missing since Oct. 21.
With the start of deer gun season Saturday, police asked all hunters to look in old barns, homes or other spots they pass that might contain clues.
''We're asking the hunters to report anything that looks suspicious,'' Kentucky State Police Detective Robert Scott said.
Seated at a desk in a makeshift office at the Bracken County Courthouse, Detective Scott held his head and appeared tired. Pictures of Erica smiled back at him - one propped between the phone and the fan, others on the door and the walls.
''I keep the photo here because when I get tired, it sort of reminds you what you're working for,'' he said. ''Right now, we're at a point where we need someone to call in with something that can break this case.''
Erica's 1988 Pontiac was found on Fronk Road just outside town, on a patch of land between double rows of hay bales. Her purse and other belongings were still in the car.
Erica's mother and stepfather, Maggie and Daniel Doherty of Germantown, said Saturday they want anyone with information to help the police.
Forensic tests on the car and searches of the area - a quiet spot on a ridge behind Ellee's Bar - turned up nothing.
Talks with police in Franklin, Ind., where 18-year-old Kelly Eckart was killed and left in a wooded area, determined the cases were not related.
Interviews with Bracken County High School students, Erica's friends and family provided a few leads that went nowhere.
Reward money has increased from $5,000 offered by Erica's family to $7,000. Another $1,000 reward for home repairs or $250 cash for non-homeowners is being offered by a Bracken County man.
In Brooksville, where Erica attended school; in Germantown, where she lived; and in Augusta, where she worked at Carota's Pizza, the scene is the same.
Routines continue. Residents go about their business. Students attend class. But all the time, Erica's smile is beaming from posters in every storefront, on walls inside shops and restaurants, on buildings.
''Everybody liked her,'' said Don Hamilton, who owns the game room behind the Video N Tan in Brooksville, where Erica was seen twice the night she disappeared.
He said he knows what Erica's family is going through because his daughter, Tammy, died in December in a car crash. She was 18. ''I hope they find her. I hope she's alive, but there's nothing I can do because we don't know.''
At the high school, students ''are doing a good job of going on with what they have to do but being respectful of the situation,'' Principal Mark Crank said.
A crisis team of counselors is on call in Frankfort, ready to provide help to students if needed. Erica's friends and Detective Scott said she is a smart, funny girl. She is a member of the Future Business Leaders of America and also has a scrappy side.
''She'd fight back if someone grabbed her,'' Detective Scott said. Assigned to Bracken County for 24 years, he knows Erica and her family well.
At Shepherd's Place across the street from the courthouse, talk from table to table centers on Erica.
''We've been keeping an eye out and checking out spots,'' said hunter Ken Runge, of Union. He had lunch with friends Terry Behrens and Bill Napier. ''We hope they don't find her that way.''
Waitress Angie Yelton said what makes the case so terrible is not knowing what happened. ''It's all a mystery.''
Detective Scott said he has some ideas of what might have happened. Even though the AA Highway brings more outsiders into town, he said, ''I think this case is going to be local.
''Something like this hits harder in a place like this where everyone knows everyone,'' Detective Scott said. ''Not that this daughter is any more important, but it's a loss felt by the entire community.''
Police ask that anyone with information about the disappearance of Erica Lee Fraysure, last seen Oct. 21, call the Bracken sheriff's office at (606) 735-3233 or the Kentucky State Police at (800) 222-5555 or (606) 428-1212. The calls can be anonymous.
