“Everybody Knows Her”: Search Continues for Missing Ricochet Hollow Child
A document from an interactive, solvable fictional cold case told through official records.
September 4, 1993
RICOCHET HOLLOW — The quiet stretch of Hollow Bend Road was filled with flashlights and worried voices Friday night as neighbors and deputies searched for six-year-old Brittany Lynn, who failed to return home from school.
Brittany, a first grader described by family as cheerful and talkative, was reported missing late Friday afternoon when she did not arrive home at her usual time. According to relatives, she had exited her school bus earlier in the day and was expected to walk the familiar route back to her house, something she had done many times before.
“She knows that road,” one neighbor said. “Everybody around here knows her.”
As dusk fell, residents left their homes to help search nearby yards, tree lines, and the woods bordering Hollow Bend. Some walked shoulder to shoulder through brush, others stood along the road calling Brittany’s name into the dark. Sheriff’s deputies coordinated the effort as rain began to fall, forcing searchers to move carefully across slick ground.
Authorities said they are working under the assumption that the child may have wandered from the roadway into the surrounding woods or followed one of the informal footpaths that run along the area.
“This is a close community,” a spokesperson for the Ricochet Hollow Sheriff’s Office said. “People are doing everything they can.”
By early morning, the road was quiet again, but the concern remained. Parents were seen keeping children close, and neighbors spoke in hushed tones as search crews prepared to resume efforts at first light.
Brittany is described as six years old, with light blonde hair, and was last seen wearing a red shirt and pink pants. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Ricochet Hollow Sheriff’s Office via the tip line number: 555-555-982.
Susan Hale, Staff Writer
Editor’s Note:
Search efforts were ongoing at press time.
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