BEDFORD, Ohio — After more than 40 years, Brunswick resident Alison Duiker needs to see something change.
She's watched as Pennsylvania State Police have not made any arrests or located her mother, Lonnie Rogers, after she went missing in January 1981.
"I truly want to find her," Duiker said.
That's why this Bedford City Schools special education teacher is pushing for legislators to pass what's called "Lonnie's Law." The proposed law would allow families of missing persons the ability, after 20 years, to view the police files in a case in a secure setting and take notes.
"The idea there is maybe I could help," Duiker explained. "Maybe someone else has a different perspective. After 20 years, two decades, that’s a lifetime. If you haven’t moved forward in 20 years, something has to change."
Duiker told News 5 that while she would love to see the law pass in Pennsylvania and directly impact her case, she's trying to find a legislator anywhere in the country to try to help others as well.
What happened to Lonnie Rogers?
Duiker was just 5 years old when her deaf mother disappeared overnight from their Hayfield Township, Pennsylvania home after a fight with Rogers' separated husband.
"They had an argument," Duiker explained. "She slept on the couch, he slept in their bed. He woke up at 2 a.m. and saw she was gone. He claimed that day and every day since, she left with another man and left the kids and left him."
Looking back on it, it doesn’t add up for Duiker.
"Nothing has ever been found or turned up," she said. "[My mother didn't take her] hearing aids. She didn't have her glasses. She didn't have ID."
Duiker fights for her mother's missing person files. And PA Police have fought to prevent them from being released.
And in the four decades since Rogers went missing, Duiker admits she's become frustrated with Pennsylvania State Police, who has repeatedly denied her attempt to look at the police files for her mother's case.
"What if there’s something in that file that I could help connect the dots to," Duiker asked. "What does it matter after 44 years? There's nothing active about a missing persons case that’s 4.5 decades old."
Duiker even took her request all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Ultimately judges agreed with police, arguing empathy doesn’t outweigh the law protecting criminal investigative materials from being released.
"This court simply does not have the power to circumvent the law," the opinion wrote.
"That’s hard for me to live with," Duiker said. "Each day I think 'Could I do something to find her?' I live with it every day because they won’t share anything."
Brother of missing Cleveland man supports Lonnie's Law
Hope and patience keep Bill Hodge from stopping his search for his brother, Michael.
Mike Hodge was 39 years old when he went missing after a party in Cleveland’s West Park neighborhood in 2004.
"After that day and that night, nothing - never heard from him," Bill Hodge said. "20 years, it’s a long time. But I’m not giving up hope."
Cleveland Police handle that case.
"They don’t really reach out to us," Hodge said. "We have to call them to see what’s going on. Then it takes awhile for them to get back to us."
Hodge admits that he, too, has tried to see what’s inside his brother’s files.
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"I went down and asked for police reports a number of times, and I just get one or two pieces of paper," he said. "But when they call me in for questioning and meet with me, the folder would be this big."
If Lonnie’s Law were enacted, Hodge feels it could bring some level of relief, even if the case was never solved.
"It’s important for the families to see what they did in case they might have missed something," Bill Hodge said.
But investigators say the proposed law could pose problems.
Special agent Roger Davis oversees hundreds of cold cases at Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations. BCI formed a cold case unit five years ago with the intent of helping out understaffed or stumped agencies in need of a second set of eyes or access to the latest technology and testing.
Showing those files, Davis said, can get tricky. He points to the possibility of a suspect so close to being charged, notes being misinterpreted, or even the idea that the individual being shown the police files is the one who committed a crime tied to the cold case.
"It’s a gray area," he said. "We don’t know how that could taint an investigation or advance an investigation. I’m torn because I want them to have some answers and I also want to make sure the integrity of the case and the person responsible for these crimes can be properly prosecuted."
There is no state in the United States that requires police to allow families to view missing persons' police files after a certain period of time.
"Not only am I living with ambiguous loss and what happened to her and where she is, I don’t even know what’s in the file and if I could or couldn’t help," Duiker added.
News 5 reached out to Pennsylvania State Police about the state of the Rogers Case. Trooper Kevin Geibel confirmed the case remains an active missing persons case.
"I am not able to provide many specific details in order to maintain the integrity of the case and ensure future information received is genuine," he said.
Anyone with any information about Rogers' disappearance is asked to reach out to Pennsylvania State Police at 814-332-6911
Clay LePard is a special projects reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on Twitter @ClayLePard, on Facebook Clay LePard News 5 or email him at Clay.LePard@WEWS.com.
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