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Investigation continues 4 years after woman's disappearance

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Police are continuing to investigate the case of a Gaston County woman who disappeared four years ago.

“I just beg, you know, that somebody comes forward,” said Kim Fraley, the mother of Jamie Fraley.

Jamie Fraley was 22 years old when she disappeared from her Gastonia apartment.

“Imagine if it was your child,” Kim Fraley said. “How would you feel?”

Jamie Fraley’s aunt said the days are agonizing.

“It's hard to go on with our lives,” Stacy Dennis said. “It's mental anguish every day.”

“Show me where my sister is,” said Tesla Rush, Jamie Fraley’s sister. “She didn't deserve this.  No one deserves this.”

Police said the case is active, but it's cold. There are no new leads despite a $5,000 reward for answers.

Police said they had a person of interest -- a man once convicted of second-degree murder.  He was an acquaintance and possibly the last person to see Jamie Fraley before she vanished. His body was found in the trunk of a car months after she disappeared.  Investigators deemed his death a strange accident.

Rita Conley, a family friend and former police officer, volunteered to help the family search for leads as the police conduct their own investigation.

“All we do is get up every day and think about, what can we do to find Jamie,” Kim Fraley said.

About once a week, they go into the woods or down a road actively working to find answers. They look for the clothes they think Jamie was wearing.

“Certainly we look for bones,” Conley said. “That is always that possibility.”

It’s a possibility Kim Fraley accepts.

“Even if it is the worst-case scenario, we want to bring her home with dignity,” she said.