It has been 25 years since Traci Pittman Kegley was last seen in Elmore County.
The young mother had borrowed a credit card from her parents Steven and Linda Pittman to purchase gas on April 26, 1998 from a convenience store near the intersection of Redland Road and U.S. Highway 231. The next day Kegley’s 1993 Geo Storm was found on Old Georgia Road with her 2-year-old daughter Peyton safely inside but no sign of Kegley.
Kegley’s mother Linda Pittman said it was unlike her daughter to just go missing.
“She was the most caring and sweetest person ever,” Pittman said. “She was always wanting to help others.”
Twenty five years later and it is still hard for Pittman to speak about her daughter, especially not knowing what happened.
“We miss her something terrible and hope one day we will find answers,” Pittman said.
According to court records Kegley filed for a divorce in February 1998 after a separation that started in December 1997. The divorce was final on April 11, 1998.
Kegley was seen alive 15 days later.
The Herald reported in the spring of 1998, shortly after Kegley disappeared, Elmore County authorities dragged a gravel quarry and drained a pond in an area adjacent to the Old Georgia Road near where Kegley’s abandoned car was found, but to no avail.
Five years ago law enforcement converged on the Friendship community bringing cadaver dogs, drones, mapping technology, walking searchers and dive teams — some from as far away as California. A news release from the district attorney’s office at the time of the search said agencies involved in the search included Autauga, Blount, Chilton, Elmore, Lee and Tallapoosa County sheriff’s offices, SW Panhandle Search & Rescue K9, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency State Bureau of Investigation, Auburn, Opelika, Prattville and Wetumpka police departments, Prattville Fire Department, Alabama Emergency Management Agency, ESRI, Haynes Ambulance and Crimestoppers.
At the time officials told The Herald a dive team found forensic evidence in a pond.
Authorities have been tight lipped about the missing person case but said the investigation continues.
“It is not closed by any means, shape or form,” 19th Circuit District Attorney C.J. Robinson said. “I feel like we got really close a couple years ago. We couldn’t quite get to where we needed to get to.”
Pittman said she still hears from law enforcement from time to time.
“The cold case detective [from SBI] calls every once in a while letting me know that he is still working on the case,” Pittman said.
Robinson is relatively new to the case. He was introduced to Kegley’s family five years ago by then-district attorney Randall Houstonwhen a search warrant was executed in the Friendship community. Robinson said Kegley’s disappearance is “still an open case.”
“Some say it is cold — it is not closed — it is certainly open,” Robinson said. “Routinely we have communications with ALEA officers about information that may come in to see if there is anything we can do with that information.”
Robinson said his office and law enforcement are always looking at new ways to investigate the case and the evidence they have.
“Anything we can do, we do — going over old steps or create new ones,” Robinson said. “We constantly try to do that. I can tell you that a couple weeks ago there was an ALEA officer in our office and we were discussing any potential new things we could do.”
