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Moms remember missing sons

Last Update: 6/15/2006 8:33:05 PM

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- There are few prouder moments for mothers than when they get to talk about their children. But when you ask Vicki Smith about her son, Joshua, you'll get this answer instead:

"Joshua left on Nov. 4, 2000, we think around 9 p.m., behind a lodge in Ponte Vedra," she says.

Smith was 23 years old when he went missing on the beach. His truck was found, as was his wallet, but the keys to his vehicle were gone. There has never been a trace of him since.

Margaret Rowan can tell you a similar story about her son, John. John Rowan went missing in February of 2001. He was an Irish businessman in Jacksonville who disappeared early in the morning. His car was later located, but there has never been a sign of John.

"John was the hero," his mother says. "And you can call him 'the king of the palace.' He was our bread-winner."

On Friday at 1:30 p.m. outside of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Smith and Rowan will ask the community to keep their sons' stories alive. They will be joined by Community United Effort (CUE) Centers for Missing Persons. CUE is a traveling group of volunteers from North Carolina whose goal is to keep the stories of missing people publicized across the country.

Their third-annual tour will include a trip to Jacksonville, during which they will focus on the stories of Smith and Rowan, as well as the disappearances of Mark Degner, Bryan Hayes, Yvonne Belcher and Jackie Markham.

Both Smith and Rowan admit that their struggles are particularly hard because they can not find closure until they know exactly what happened to their sons.

"I think it's vitally important for every family to know if their child's alive or their child's died," Vicki says. "And the word closure simply means an answer to me."

"We all know somebody, somewhere knows exactly where our loved ones are and what happened to them," adds Margaret.

If you have any information about John Rowan's disappearance, please call the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500..

If you have any information about Joshua Smith's disappearance, please call the St. John's County Sheriff's Office at 904-824-8304.

For more information on the Community United Effort (CUE), log on to www.ncmissingpersons.org. You can also email them at cuecenter@aol.com.