The family and friends of Angela Freeman – the Petal native who went missing 30 years ago as of September 10 – vow to never give up hope or the search for the truth to what happened to Angela on that summer night three decades ago.
To honor Angela’s memory and reflect on her life, a candlelight vigil was held on September 9 at Hinton Park in Petal, attended by Angela’s mother Debra and grandmother Clydell, along with several community members and friends. The event was hosted, in part, by Metro Crime Stoppers, which is still open to information regarding Angela’s disappearance.
“I wasn’t going to do anything (to commemorate this year), but Diane (James, executive director) from Crime Stoppers said there really needed to be something, and she helped me do it,” Debra said. “I’m glad we did; I’m overwhelmed at the turnout.”
The event started with Debra welcoming and thanking the crowd for coming to pay their respects to Angela. That was followed by Angela’s uncle, Roger Freeman, sharing a poem that was written by Angela.
“I was always kind of the one that Angela would go to when she needed something or had a problem,” Roger said. “Angela loved everybody, and everybody she came into contact with, she was a light, and she is still a light.
“I know right now, if she were to see all these people here to celebrate her life, she’d be embarrassed. But God knows that one day, this person that took Angela from us will stand before God, and there will be a reckoning for that person on that day. Of that, I have no doubt.”
Darrell Sanford then gave a performance of “Amazing Grace” on guitar, and Debra reflected on the meaning behind the candlelight vigil and shared another poem which reminds her of Angela.
“Lighting a candle and saying a child’s name keeps their memory burning bright,” Debra said. “We will most definitely shed tears every time (we think about our children), and we certainly miss them.
“But this is something that allows the world to hear our child’s name. For one moment, the candle means so much more than anybody else could ever understand. It’s the only gift that we can give our children; it’s the closest that we can get to our child now.”
Angela’s brother Nicholas Freeman performed his song “Angela,” which he wrote for his sister in 1995, two years after her disappearance. Afterwards, several blue balloons were released into the air in Angela’s memory.
“(The balloon release) is sending prayers to Heaven,” Clydell said. “We’re asking for justice for my granddaughter and my great-granddaughter, and I’m just so thankful that everybody showed up.”
Freeman, who was 17 years old and four months pregnant at the time of her disappearance, was last seen at approximately 1 a.m. September 10, 1993, at the Pizza Hut on Central Avenue in Petal. According to witnesses, she was seen in the parking lot of the restaurant at that time arguing with her ex-boyfriend.
Her disappearance was reported shortly after, when she failed to show up at her morning work shift at the Krystal’s restaurant on Hardy Street in Hattiesburg. A few days later, her 1984 silver Honda was found by a family member at the Mahned Bridge in Perry County, just outside of New Augusta and north of the Mahned community.
A small puddle of liquid that was found outside of her car – which was initially assumed by authorities to be transmission fluid – was later confirmed to be Angela’s blood. In addition, both of her shoes were found a short distance away from the car.
Her keys and purse, along with her body, have never been found.
Debra has contended that Angela was not drinking or using drugs at the time, particularly because of her pregnancy. Angela also gave her mother money for a car payment shortly before her disappearance, and left behind a paycheck at her place of employment.
Perry County Sheriff Mitch Nobles first began working the case in 2007, after coming to the Petal Police Department following a 10-year stint as a deputy at the Perry County Sheriff’s Office. He served as a school resource officer at the Petal School District from 2013 to 2015, and was elected in 2016 as Perry County Sheriff.
In addition to Nobles, other law enforcement agents who have handled the case include Rusty Keyes, who now serves as chief of the police department at the University of Southern Mississippi, and Major Jamie Humphrey of the Forrest County Sheriff's Office. In particular, Keyes began a cold case unit at USM before his appointment as chief, where he was one of the leaders in the case of Freeman’s disappearance.
In November 2022, Nobles said the case was turned over almost three years ago to Lin Carter, who has served since 2020 as district attorney for Forrest and Perry counties. The sheriff said his agency – along with other cooperating agencies – has narrowed the case down to one suspect, and he believes the evidence is sufficient for indictment.
However, without the discovery of a body or other physical evidence, the DA may be hesitant to bring the case forward because of the risk for a “no bill,” which means the evidence is found insufficient by a grand jury, and prosecutors would essentially need to start over from scratch, as another indictment would not be possible without new evidence.
“I don’t want anybody to think that there’s going to be an indictment tomorrow or anything like that; there’s not,” Nobles said. “But we wouldn’t have turned it over to the DA’s office if we didn’t think there was enough evidence to indict.
“(We) gave it to DA Carter, but so far they’ve determined there’re not comfortable with bringing it forward yet, and honestly, no DA in the country would want to do it without a body and just circumstantial evidence.”
Debra, however, said she believes there’s enough evidence to solve her daughter’s disappearance.
“If we go (to court) and we get there, and (the suspect) walks out, then at least we tried,” she said. “It’s inconceivable (that someone that did this is still walking around). “I want closure and I want justice.
“We want to keep (her memory) out there until we get this solved, but once it gets solved, it’s probably not going to help me any more than I am now, but at least I’ll have her body. I’ll have something I can bury.”
