No sign, no word: Family of missing East Dublin woman hopes for answers
EAST DUBLIN, Ga. -- When Shambria Fields thinks of her mother Diane, she thinks of her kindness.
"Everybody loved her," she says. "At her job, they adored her."
Fields said that Diane's whole world revolved around her family.
"She wouldn't let a fly harm my grandma," she said. "She wouldn't leave her parents."
So when Diane was reported missing in November of 2014, Fields couldn't believe it -- until her whole family was there, without Diane.
"That's when it hit me," Fields said. "My mom isn't at my grandma's house and I don't know where she's at. That's not like her."
East Dublin Police Chief William Luecke said the call came in as a burglary, but immediately police knew something was strange.
"We felt strongly the burglary had nothing to do with the disappearance for whatever reason," he said. "Things just didn't add up."
He said that nothing was even taken from the house.
They called in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. But Chief Luecke said that after more than three years, neither agency has much besides a person of interest -- Fields' boyfriend at the time, who was the last person to see her alive.
"Factually, we are no closer today than we were when this took place," Chief Luecke said.
In that time, Fields' family has been breaking.
"My brother, he took it the hardest," Shambria Fields said. "He's acting out, getting in trouble with the law. It's like he doesn't know how to deal with it."
Fields' father died not knowing where his daughter was.
"He found out he had cancer," she said. "I think he already knew that. He just said he didn't want to live no more."
Shambria says the worst part is not knowing.
"In the back of our mind, we think she still is alive," she said. "And the other times, as the days pass -- the nights, days come weeks, weeks come months, months come years -- it's been three years. No sign."
Fields' brother Eddie doesn't live in Dublin, but he knows it well.
"Dublin's a very small country town," he said. "Someone had to have seen something. Someone had to have known something."
He said that since Fields' disappearance, he's offered a $10,000 reward to anyone with information.
"Not one single person came forward, except rumors," he said.
For Shambria and her family, closure is what they need.
"We don't know," she said. "We don't know if she's buried. We don't know if she's dead. We don't know. We just know she's missing."
Anyone with information is asked to contact the East Dublin Police Department or call the GBI at 1-800-597-8477. Tips can also be submitted to the GBI online here.
