Happy Birthday Anthony

Dear Anthony,

Today is your 53rd birthday. It is your 2nd birthday since you disappeared. We continue to look for you and do all we can to find you or at least gain closure. Everyday is filled with hope, sorrow, frustrations, and faith.

Everyone we talk to liked you so much. They all comment about your ability to do anything you set your mind to. They all talk about what all you had - a great family, several great businesses and lots of land to enjoy your hobbies of fishing, hunting and just being in the outdoors. You have so many wonderful friends, friends that care about you and just like your family, they all hope to get answers.

Soon it will be Christmas. The one thing I always think about when opening presents is you and your pocket knife, the knife you left at home when you disappeared along with everything else. Every time we were all together opening gifts, if tape or a ribbon needed to be cut you jumped up with the pocket knife in hand. All of us will be missing you more than ever this Christmas.

I hope where ever you are you know how much you are missed and loved. I hope you know that we will not quit looking for you. We hope and pray to find you alive and well but if not that we long for closure and justice.

Holidays Times - Once again without Anthony

Anthony has been missing for 16 months, almost 17. It is unbelievable. We continue to hope to find him well and alive but it isn't likely. There is no way that Anthony would leave his family and not communicate or anything. He was way to compassionate for that ... and he loved to talk. He would have to call and see how his family and friends are doing. So all of that said we fear the worse - foul play. Someone has hurt Anthony and disposed of his body.

Thanksgiving is nearing. After that is Anthony's birthday, his 2nd since he has been missing. Then Christmas. These are typically happy occasions that our family enjoys spending time together. And yes, we will still spend time together and will enjoy the time but there will be a huge hole in our holidays.

We thank all of you for your thoughts, prayers and well wishes. We have met so many people that also have missing loved ones. We value those relationships and pray for their situations. Until you find yourself in this situation it is hard to imagine. I find it hard to imagine waiting for answers for 5 or 10 years or longer.

Please continue to pray that we and all families get closure that is so needed and deserved. Please pray that the OSBI and private investigators continue to gain information that can help bring closure and justice.

Happy holidays to all.

Pay It Forward

The family of Anthony Holland is trying to Pay It Forward. We found a story about a young man out of Texas that is a firefighter. He is trying to win a contest through Dave Ramsey. We feel so obligated to a group of firemen out of Hobart that has done several dives looking for Anthony. So thus the "Pay it Forward". In recognition for the help they have provided our family we are trying to support this young man. Please vote using link below:

http://www.daveramsey.com/entreleadership/contest-entry/entryId/9/

Candle Light Vigil

In June a candlelight vigil was held in Cordell Oklahoma in memory of Melissa Flores and Anthony Holland. Melissa has been missing since January, 2007. Her case is considered a homicide by OSBI. Anthony has been missing since June 2009. His case is considered a missing person case but odds are that he has been murdered.

Melissa was a beautiful young mother of three small children. It was so wonderful to meet her loving family. It is obvious how much they cared for Melissa and how much they miss her. They continue searching for her so they can gain closure. They are not giving up.

Anthony was 51 years old at the time of his disappearance and a father of two boys. He is missed so much by all of us. Contrary to many publications he was last seen in Cordell, Oklahoma. He returned home from Elk City and spent about 1 hour with his wife. That was the last he was seen. Like Melissa's family we will not give up. He is out there somewhere and we will find him. We are frustrated daily that his home where he was last seen has not been searched. We are frustrated that we are not allowed to search his farm land. We are frustrated that some of his family seem to not care if he is found or not. But those of us that do we will not give up.

I believe that there are individuals that know something about one or the other of these cases. I just pray they come forward and provide this information to the OSBI.

June 21 - First Anniversary

Yesterday and today have been difficult days. Yesterday was Father's Day and Anthony disappeared on Father's Day, 2009. And of course, today is the official 1 year anniversary of his disappearance.

As is the case with many missing person cases, I feel someone out there knows something about Anthony's location. They may have either helped him leave town or they may know where his body is.

There is not 1 second of any day that someone in our family is not thinking about Anthony. Our thoughts are all over the place. At times we are thinking of the good times that we have had with him or about how kind and generous he is or we are just wondering where can he be. We long for the day to even have Anthony back with us or at least to get some closure.

We pray for answers for all families with missing loved ones.

Year Anniversary is Near

For the most part anniversaries are happy occasions. But not this one. I never expected a year to pass and that we wouldn't know where Anthony was. I know there are many people that have been waiting for years and years to get news on their missing loved ones and my heart goes out to them!

I changed up the look of the blog to an outdoorsy look. Anthony loved to be outside. He loved to hike around, fish, hunt, or just sit on a porch and talk with dear friends. Anthony loved to be around family and friends. He was very sociable and actually hated doing anything alone.

We, of course, all miss him dearly. His Mom and Dad saw him every month if not more often. And they talked to him almost daily on the phone. And not hearing from him for one year has been hard plus we have no closure.

We again thank all of you for your prayers, help with searches, help with vigil and all that you have done. It is great to know that we are surrounded by friends and loved ones at this time.

Candle Light Vigil

Anthony has been missing for over 10 months and in 2 days it will be 11 months. This is impossible to believe. We have no answers. We don't know where he is or where is body is. There is no closure. It's frustrating, difficult and sometimes almost impossible to deal with.

We are planning a candle light vigil for June 26th. It will be in the Cordell park and will be held for both Anthony and Melissa Flores. It will begin at 8:30 PM. Some seating will be provided but please feel free to bring your own lawn chair. Melissa has been missing since January 2007. She is a young beautiful girl and her family deserves answers just as our does.

Keep all the families of the missing in your prayers.

Nine Months

As the weeks and months go by and basically no updates, the family is so concerned. When I first heard Anthony was missing I just assumed we would find him in a matter of weeks and today we reached the 9 month anniversary. Totally unbelievable. And now I fear we won't know anything for years.

We continue to search the area. We are still amazed by the support of the wonderful people in Cordell. More and more volunteer to go out and help us with searching. We are eternally grateful to all that have helped!

We continue to hold onto the hope that Anthony is alive and well somewhere but with no word from him, it concerns us tremendously. We hope and pray someone will come forward with information. Please call OSBI with any information you may have.

It is totally mind boggling that two people can be missing from the same little town. My heart goes out to the family of Melissa. It has been over 3 years now and they are still looking for her. Please keep her family in your prayers.

All families deserve closure.

Reward Offered

Anthony's brother announced last week that he is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person[s] responsible for Anthony's disappearance.

You can read more about this on The Criminal Report Daily. It is written by David Lohr, who has been writing about crime and criminals for over 15 years. He is highly regarded and is know as one of the most prominent crime writers. See link on side panel.

Our family is so hopeful that this reward will encourage anyone with information to turn this into law enforcement. We desperately need closure on this case. We hope and pray everyday that Anthony is alive and well but we fear the worse.

We think numerous papers will be carrying the story of the reward in the Western Oklahoma area. We hope this increases the awareness of Anthony's situation.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts, prayers and encouragement. We appreciate all that you do.

Seven Months and No News

It's hard to believe that 7 months has passed and we have no additional information regarding Anthony's whereabouts. We don't know if he is alive and well or in great need of help or if he has passed either due to foul play or accident.

Every day, he is in our thoughts and prayers. He is missed by so many of us. It is especially hard for his parents and his siblings. We all hope for some tip or closure. We are currently hoping to get Anthony included in a book about the missing and we are reaching out to the "Disappeared" TV show and America's Most Wanted. We are hoping to get Anthony's name in the media as much as possible. We really feel that he has received very little coverage.

Due to deer hunting season, his wife did not allow us to search the land. So no searches have been conducted for 2 to 3 months. Deer season is over but the weather has not cooperated. As soon as the roads and weather clear up, we will be conducting more searches. We hope and pray to find some clue or something to help us.

In case you have not heard the remains of the missing Virginia Tech student, Morgan Harrington, were recently found. Such a tragic outcome but there is now closure. Here is a quote from her father in one article I read: "Morgan's mother, Gil, and I are overwhelmingly saddened by yesterday's discovery, but we are also relieved because our questions can now be answered and we can give our daughter a proper burial". I ask that you please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers.