For the last four years Sarah Heriford and her siblings kept renting the house where her mother, Debbie Heriford, last lived.
“Just on the off chance that this would be where mom would come back,” Sarah Heriford said.
The last place Debbie was seen was in her neighborhood walking her dog near Maroon Bells Avenue in north Colorado Springs. She had just arrived home from work as a crossing guard for Discovery Canyon Elementary.
“There was a neighbor who had seen her walking and that was the last person to see her,” Sarah Heriford said.
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Four days later when she wouldn’t answer their calls, her children showed up searching for her.
“One thing that was strange about the car is she always parked the car in the garage,” Sarah Heriford said. “She was very, very careful about that and Sunday morning when we came over here the car was parked on the street, and she never parks her car on the street.”
Sarah says her family searched, even posted tens of thousands of flyers with her picture but nothing turned up except the dog. She said the dog was found a day after her mother reportedly disappeared. She said it was tied to a post behind a business about a quarter mile from her mother’s house.
When we asked Sarah what she thinks happened to her mother she replied, “I don’t want to speculate. I think she was out walking her dog and then something happened at that point.”
“Everyone I had contact with over the years describes her as nothing but an outstanding lady and somebody you would want to have as a friend,” said Detective Derek Graham with the Colorado Springs Police Department. Graham is the lead detective on the Heriford case.
Graham said he knows Debbie didn’t just walk away and said it was totally out of character for her to not contact her children.
When we asked Graham how he deals not being able to find Heriford he replied, “It is frustrating. Just like all of our investigations we’d like to solve 100 percent of all of our cases to include missing persons. It’s frustrating to us but all we can do is our best.”
When asked if he thinks Heriford is alive Graham said, “No. I can’t really comment on it but we believe foul play is involved.”
In the meantime, as Sarah prays for an answer in her mom’s disappearance, she has a message for her mother and the community.
“I just want everyone including her, if she is watching this, to know we haven’t forgotten about this,” Heriford said. “This is something her four children think about every single day.”
Heriford was in the middle of a divorce and was estranged from her husband when she disappeared. We reached out to her husband but he told us he was legally bound and can’t say anything.
If you or someone you know has any information about Debbie Heriford’s disappearance please call CrimeStoppers at 634-STOP. You don’t have to give your name and you could earn a cash reward.
