Pandemic necessitates cancellation of April 2021 NYS Missing Persons Day
What would be the 20th annual New York State Missing Persons Day is canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The springtime event, held annually by the Ballston -Spa based Center for HOPE (Healing Our Painful Emotions), typically draws friends and relatives of missing persons together to reflect, remember and provide mutual support.
According to the nonprofit organization’s director Mary Lyall, the decision to cancel the April 2020 Missing Persons Day had been an agonizing one to make, because it felt as if the pandemic was robbing loved ones of the chance to assemble and embrace while simultaneously boosting public awareness about unsolved cases.
“Last year’s decision was a tough one, but there was some small consolation in hoping that by April 2021 it would be safe to continue The Center for HOPE’s tradition of inviting those coping with the unexplained disappearance of a loved one to gather under one roof again,” said Lyall, whose daughter Suzanne Lyall vanished without a trace from the University at Albany campus in March 1998, in a press release.
Missing Persons Day is usually held in the week of Suzanne’s birthday, April 6.
Although Lyall and many others across the state have now been vaccinated, the prospect of even one attendee contracting the coronavirus or contributing to the disease’s spread ultimately cemented the decision to cancel the 2021 event as well, the release said.
While the event is canceled for this spring, The Center for HOPE continues its work providing support for families with missing loved ones.