2 months later, missing Gary woman's family holding out hope as new year approaches
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The new year brings renewed hope for the family of a missing woman from Gary, Indiana, as her family continues to search for clues into her disappearance more than two months ago.
As a new year arrives, a sense of not knowing remains for the family of Emma Baum, who has been missing since Oct. 10, but they said they won't give up their search.
"It's hard, and to know that this is the beginning of a new year, and we might do this all year-round really is a feeling that you can't really explain," said her sister, Abby Smith.
Smith and her family members haven't seen Baum since mid-October. At the time, she was days away from delivering her fourth child. She vanished in Gary days before her due date.
"We can't function, we can't, you know, go one day without wondering," Smith said.
They've been inside abandoned homes with K9 teams, and the family has spent countless hours searching the neighborhood in Gary where Baum was last seen.
"We're always going to look. I'm never going to stop looking for her. My whole family will never stop looking for you, Emma," Baum's mother, Jamie, said in November.
Smith said those search efforts will continue until they find Baum.
"Like we said, it's not gonna stop. She has three kids, and regardless of anything from point A to point B, they deserve to know where their mom is or what has happened," Smith said.
Not knowing has placed an unimaginable toll on the entire family, especially during the holidays, and Smith said she's holding out hope her sister is alive.
"She missed her son's birthday. She missed Thanksgiving. She's missed Christmas. Now she's gonna miss the new year. There has to be that hope," Smith said.
Because hope is the only thing keeping them going, Baum's family said after searching and talking to people, they have reason to believe her disappearance is due to foul play.
Gary police have only classified Baum's case as a missing person investigation. Until the family hears otherwise, they're asking anyone to call with any information.
"At this point, it would provide comfort," Smith said.
But she knows her family isn't the only one searching for answers.
"There is a very large, large amount of missing women and children in Gary, Indiana, to the point where the numbers are really concerning," she said.
