WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — There are more than 2,000 missing persons cases in North Carolina.
For one of them, Tuesday marks six years since a Winston-Salem woman was last seen.
No one has heard from Mary Smith, and there's no sign of where she could be.
When Smith disappeared in 2017, her family said Winston-Salem police questioned more than 130 people who were staying at the motel where she was headed.
Since then, the family said they haven't heard much from the police.
On the six-year mark of Smith's disappearance, her sister Doris and niece Faye spent the spring-like day on their porch reminiscing on the good times they had with Mary.
“She cooked for a lot of people she was very friendly she talked a little mess sometimes but besides that she was a very kind and loving person,” Faye said.
Faye said she and her aunt Mary were very close.
“You see one you see the other,” Faye said.
That's until Mary left Doris's home to go back to her motel on February 28, 2017.
“My daughter told me she had six $100 bills on her and Faye asked her to leave some of the money with me and she said no, so the man took her to the motel and she stayed up there,” Doris said. “ We didn't see her anymore.”
That summer, Faye thought she had found her aunt's backpack near the Roadway Inn off Patterson Avenue in Winston-Salem where Mary was staying.
It led WSPD to search eight acres surrounding the motel, but no luck, and since then Faye said they haven’t heard anything.
Mary was 62 years old when she disappeared and is supposed to turn 68 this summer.
Her family doesn't believe she's still alive but they want closure.
“She's my baby sister and I told her as long as I was on this earth I would take care of her. I tried my best to do that,” Doris said. “And now she's gone.”
“We will not give up,” Faye said. “We would like for anyone that knows something to please come forward.”
WFMY reached out to Winston-Salem police Tuesday about new leads but hasn't heard back.
In the meantime, Mary's family said they plan to hold a vigil outside the Roadway Inn on Saturday in Mary’s memory.
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