CRITTENDEN COUNTY, Ark. — The search continued Thursday for the missing Kansas mother who was last heard from in the Memphis area.
Marilane Carter, 36, was driving through Memphis Sunday on her way to Birmingham when her parents last spoke to her.
They’ve been in the Mid-South since Tuesday searching for her with authorities. Thursday marked an important milestone.
“This is our happiest day since this started because we actually have some hope,” said Carter’s mother Marlene Mesler.
Read more: Missing Kansas mother last heard from in Memphis, police say
The Crittenden County Sheriff’s Office confirms it searched the land near the Big River Crossing and along the river fearing Carter could have driven into it. But the search turned up nothing, which Carter’s parents say is good news.
“We were really afraid they’d find her car and that would not be good. But instead they weren’t able to find her car which was very good,” said Mesler.
Carter left her home in Overland Park, Kansas Saturday evening to get counseling in Birmingham. It’s a city her parents say she used to live in and where she still has family.
The mother of three was driving a gray 2011 GMC Acadia with Kansas license plate 194-LFY.
“We were in contact with all the way, but then partway through the trip she started seeming confused and disoriented. She said she kept on getting lost,” said Mesler.
Her phone last pinged Sunday in the area around the Big River Crossing, which is why search efforts have been concentrated there. Now the search expands.
“We’ve searched along the Interstate 55 ’cause her last credit card charge was at a Shell station along Interstate 55,” said Carter’s father Don Mesler.
“We really trust in God for this. We know he’s got this. He knows exactly where she is,” said Mesler.
Carter’s parents say there have been a few possible sightings of their daughter, but none have been confirmed yet.
They say she could be anywhere along her route including in Memphis, Arkansas, Alabama or even Mississippi.
