Brian Wellner/Quad-City Times Updated: 13 November 2012 | 6:33 pm in Crime, Law and Justice, Evansdale search, Public Safety, Regional, Statewide News

Mother of missing Iowa girl raises awareness in Davenport stop

Holiday season will be especially difficult, Collins says


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Drew Collins and Heather Collins, parents of missing child Elizabeth Collins, 8, talk about the community support they received during an interview Thursday, July 26, 2012, in Evansdale. (MATTHEW PUTNEY/Courier Photo Editor)

The mother of one of two missing Iowa cousins was in the Quad-Cities on Tuesday to raise awareness about the case.

Nine-year-old Elizabeth Collins and her 11-year-old cousin, Lyric Cook, disappeared from Evansdale while riding their bikes on July 13. Tuesday marks four months since they were last seen.

“We’re getting their faces up everywhere,” Heather Collins, Elizabeth’s mother, said at a stop Tuesday morning in Davenport’s Vander Veer Botanical Park before heading downtown. “If there’s one person who still doesn’t realize the girls are missing, that’s a shame.”

Collins said she had 750 flyers to pass out throughout the day in Davenport and around the Quad-City area. Her husband and Elizabeth’s father, Drew Collins, traveled to Omaha to pass out flyers. They have friends covering the Mason City and Des Moines areas.

This combo made from undated photos provided by the FBI shows cousins Lyric Cook, 10, right, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, who have been missing since Friday, July 13, 2012. (AP Photo/FBI)

Police believe the two girls were abducted and are still alive. Authorities say any small piece of information could help with the investigation.

Collins said police have received a lot of information, but nothing has led to finding the girls.

She said the upcoming holiday season will be difficult on her family.

“We get by the best we can,” Collins said. “For my husband, children and myself, it’s praying. We’re relying on God’s strength.”



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