Cadaver dogs join search

Still no sign of missing woman

By LORI DUNN
Texarkana Gazette

OLD BOSTON, Texas-Cadaver dogs searched the Braley Bottoms Friday for missing woman Sonja McLane.

However, five days after the search began, the woman's wherebouts is still a mystery.

The Bowie County Sheriff's Department and volunteer search teams have been searching for McLane since Monday after she was reported missing by her family on Sunday.

"I hope we find her. But it's the proverbial needle in the haystack," said volunteer Durvis Stuart.

Stuart, a reserve deputy with the Little River County Sheriff's Office, volunteered the services of his German shepherd, Lacy. He said he plans to return to the search today.

"I'll be here as long as Sheriff Prince needs me," he said.

McLane and her boyfriend, Todd Hilton, were reported missing after two weeks had gone by without them contacting family and friends. The pair were last seen going into the Braley Bottom woods off Farm to Market Road 2149 with another man.

The man told authorities the couple had taken methamphetamine before going into the woods to look for Indian artifacts.

Hilton's body was found in the woods Wednesday morning.

Bowie County Sheriff James Prince said Friday he has not received results of the autopsy yet.

The man who had accompanied Hilton and McLane is being questioned by authorities.

"We don't suspect foul play but we are not ruling it out," Prince said.

J.K. Gray, a Texarkana businessman who trains search dogs, also volunteered his time Friday. His golden retriever Toby was used to focus on a clearing in the woods where McLane was allegedly last seen.

Stuart said he takes his dogs all over the Four States Area to search for missing people.

"It's strictly volunteer," he said. "I'm freelance and will help out whoever calls whether it's emergency management or police."

Both Stuart and Gray plan to bring their dogs back to the search today.

A dog team from Dallas will also be joining the search today.

Prince said he has received offers from several dog teams across the region and said as many dogs as possible would be needed to cover the wide area.

"Now is the time to get them in here before everybody has to go back to work on Monday," he said.

 

 

 

 

 

Family members hold on to hope

By LORI DUNN
Texarkana Gazette

ANTIOCH, Texas-Sometimes it seems unanswered questions are all the family of Sonja McLane has left.

But they are also holding on to hope with everything they have.

"We always have hope. If we didn't have hope, what would we have," said McLane's mother, Tommie Finley.

McLane, 41, was last seen by her mother and her daughter, Brittnay Adams, 15, on July 17 when they dropped her off after a family trip to San Antonio.

Don and Tommie Finley reported their daughter missing on July 31 after she did not show up for her son's wedding.

McLane and her boyfriend, Todd Hilton, were allegedly last seen about two weeks ago when they went walking in the woods west of Old Boston, Texas, with another friend.

Hilton's body was found Wednesday and the friend is being questioned by authorities.

On Friday, the Bowie County Sheriff's Department brought in cadaver dogs to search for McLane.

Brittnay and her grandparents are prepared for the worst. But they also worry that if McLane is alive, she might be confused and afraid the sheriff' s department wants to arrest her for something.

They want to let her know that it is OK to come home.

"If she is out there somewhere, we want her to call us and let us know that she is all right. We would also like to hear from anyone who has seen her or might have picked her up on the road," Tommie Finley said.

The man who accompanied McLane and Hilton into the woods has told Bowie County Sheriff James Prince that the couple had done methamphetamine shortly before going into the woods to look for Indian artifacts.

Don and Tommie Finley do not deny their daughter has struggled with a drug problem for several years.

"I would get frustrated with her. She was very much her own person. She was a good girl. She just had this problem," Tommie Finley said.

Brittnay has lived with her grandparents for three years because of her mother's drug habit and her 10-year-old brother lives with his father.

However, her relatives believe McLane has been conquering her problem in recent months.

"She told us she had been clean for a year," Tommie Finley said. "There were no signs of meth use in recent weeks. I was caught off-guard (by the allegations of meth use the day she disappeared). I had not seen anything that would lead me to think that."

McLane recently traveled with her mother and daughter and several other relatives to visit her grandmother in San Antonio.

"She was very upbeat. She was having a good time. Emotionally, she was probably better than I had seen her in a year," Tommie Finley said.

Brittnay agrees.

"She had put on weight. She was healthier," she said.

McLane has not had a permanent home in a long time and she and Hilton had recently been living at a campsite.

But her parents had heard that the couple was trying to find a place to live and wanted to get out of the drug scene.

That's why it worried them so much when she didn't show up at her oldest son's wedding on July 30.

"When she didn't show up for that, we started looking. She was very excited about that wedding," Tommie Finley said.

On the day of the wedding, Tommie Finley drove out to the campground to pick her daughter up. But she wasn't there.

"I came on back and went to the wedding but then I went back out to the lake. A young girl approached me and said she was worried about Sonja because she had not seen her in two weeks."

The Finleys then called the sheriff's department.

The family is grateful for all of the volunteers who have been looking for McLane.

"We cannot ever give them enough thanks for what they are doing," Tommie Finley said.

They were not surprised to learn their daughter was last seen in the dense Braley Bottoms woods.

"She liked the solitude of the woods. She didn't like people very much and she liked the peace and serenity of the woods," Tommie Finley said.

However, they don't think McLane was overcome by the heat or exposure

"She lives outdoors. The heat wouldn't bother her," Brittnay said.

Though she is only 4 foot 11 inches and weighs 100 pounds "when she is healthy," family members say McLane is tough.

"She is tough as a boot. She's perfectly at home in the woods," Don Finley said.

"She is very tough, very resilient," Tommie Finley said.

The search for McLane continues today in the Braley Bottoms near Old Boston in Bowie County.

And her family continues to wait.

"You battle between being angry and being sad. We get angry at the things that hurt us," Tommie Finley said.

The worst case scenario for them would be never learning what happened to their daughter and mother.

"She was my best friend," Brittnay said. "I just want to know the truth. Whatever it is."

Anyone who has any information about what happened to McLane is asked to call 911 or the Bowie County Sheriff's Office at 903-798-3149.

Wow, Itsy, what a sad story. It's such a shame that the drug takes hold and they can't seem to turn it loose. Now at last, she can rest in peace.