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WOODLAND – Despite the passage of 60-plus years, William “Buddy” Powell still clings to a glimmer of hope that his “little sister” has grown into a beautiful woman.

At age five, Phyllis Lorrain Powell went missing on Jan. 11, 1963 while playing outside of the family’s home on Ashe Street in Woodland.

Despite a massive search on the ground and in the air involving over 200 individuals, there were no clues discovered on her whereabouts, other than a set of small footprints found in an area bordered by a thick woods about one mile from where she went missing.

Each Jan. 11, her family members gather at a small memorial erected in Phyllis’s memory in Woodland. It’s a day of mixed emotions…sadness surrounding her disappearance coupled with happy thoughts that she alive and well in an unknown location.

“It gives me some hope when I hear of stories where a person missing for a long time is reunited with their family,” said Buddy Powell. “While watching You Tube I saw where a child went missing at seven years-old and stayed missing for 70 years before he was found. He wasn’t really that far from home when he was found.”

Powell noted that he completely understands the emotional roller coaster that families of the missing go through.

“We need to be reminded of the stories of those missing here in our area, to include my sister,” he stressed. “We must stand together as well as pray together so that others will see that we will never give up hope.”

Some ray of hope recently brightened Powell’s day.

“I got a phone call last week from Walter Brown of the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office,” Powell said. “He said he was working on old, unsolved cases. This is exactly what these cases need, a set of fresh eyes looking at all the details.”

What is known about the Powell case is that around 12 noon on Jan. 11, 1963, Joyce Powell (the sister of Buddy and Phyllis) was washing clothes at the home of a Woodland neighbor, Molly Lassiter. Phyllis was with Joyce and asked her older sibling for permission to go outside and play.

“Joyce knew it wouldn’t be a problem because of the area that Phyllis was going to play was surrounded by houses owned mostly by family and friends,” said Buddy. “Little did Joyce or any of us know that within an hour Phyllis would be gone; she just vanished.”

He added that there wasn’t much traffic on Ashe Street back in 1963, simply due to the fact there were only two men who lived on that street who owned an automobile. He noted that those living on Ashe Street (known as Back Street at that particular time) were either related or very close friends.

“Most of the men who lived there would walk to work at the casket companies or the basket mill that operated back then in Woodland and George,” he recalled.

Over the years since little Phyllis vanished, her missing person’s case has attracted national and international attention. With advances in technology, ground penetrating radar was used to search the local area.

On the 50th anniversary of Phyllis’s disappearance, Diana Trepkov of Canada, a Certified Forensic Artist through the International Association for Identification, became involved in the case. Based upon recollections by the family (there were no known photos of young Phyllis), Trepkov penned a likeness of Powell at age 5 and then an age progression likeness at age 55. Those two drawings were used on flyers and billboards.

In October of 2013, Community United Effort (CUE) Center for Missing Persons officials met with members of the Powell-Vinson family in Woodland at the Phyllis Powell Memorial Garden to share their memories and bring renewed attention that will hopefully shine new light on this missing person’s cold case. That event was part of the CUE’s annual “On the Road to Remember Tour.”

There remains a $10,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Phyllis Powell. That information can be shared anonymously by calling the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office at 252-534-2611. Or you can contact the CUE Center For Missing Persons at (910) 343-1131 or their 24 Hour Line at (910) 232-1687. Tipsters can remain anonymous.