GLENVILLE, N.Y. - Suzanne Lyall's father Doug said, "Ordinarily, anniversaries don't mean much. One day is like the other but this, 10 years has a different feel and a different sound and it's definitely having an impact on me."
The Lyalls said it's hard to believe that their youngest daughter Suzanne has been missing now for ten years. She would be 29, turning 30 on April 6th, but that's not how her family thinks of her.
"You always have this mental image of her as the age when she went missing or even as a little girl. Your mind plays tricks on you," said Doug Lyall.
Suzanne disappeared without a trace in 1998. Searches and investigations turned up no evidence of what happened to her the night she got on a bus heading back to her college dorm after a night of work at Crossgates Mall. Her parents say they opted not to just sit still, instead founding the Center for Hope in 2000. It's a not-for-profit group which supports other families of missing people like the Szostack family, whose son Joshua is also missing.
It has been ten years since the disappearance of college student Suzanne Lyall. The 19-year-old was last seen leaving her job at Crossgates Mall and boarding a bus back to the University at Albany. Our Jessica Mokhiber caught up with her parents who still are not giving up hope.
Mary Lyall said, "If we didn't have something to focus on, we wouldn't be able to move on and keep going. We have to keep busy and if we don't, we'll just sit here and feel sorry for ourselves."
Doug added, "I'm not sure how we survived ten years, but it's just putting one foot in front of the other and like Mary said, having our organization and being able to really have some control over something in our lives is very important."
They say it's also important that, until they have all the answers, they keep hoping to see Suzanne again.
"I would give anything to have her walk in the door right now. I would do anything," said Mary.
Doug and Mary have also been working to designate Suzanne's birthday, April 6th, as National Missing Persons Day. So far, it has been approved by Congress.
New York State's Missing Persons Day is currently held on April 6th and it's on that day that families and friends of missing people come together to help one another cope.