MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – A new billboard along a Mobile interstate is putting a fresh face on a nearly 44-year-old missing persons case, one the family says was never officially reported to law enforcement.
Diana Avera disappeared from Searcy Hospital in Mount Vernon in 1982. Her family says she had been arrested on a disorderly conduct charge and taken to the hospital. Avera, who her family says lived with schizophrenia, was later reported to have escaped.
Family learned of missing report gap in 2020
For 38 years, the family believed a detective with the Alabama Department of Mental Health was investigating Avera’s disappearance. After that detective died, they made a discovery that upended everything they thought they knew.
“That’s when we found out she never had a report filed on her, which was insane,” said Becky Hoover, Avera’s sister…