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‘I never give up on this girl ever:’ Otsego man still searching for childhood friend missing for 46 years

Posted at 4:21 PM, Jul 08, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-08 16:21:53-04

OTSEGO,Mich.--Friends of an Otsego woman who went missing nearly 50 years are still looking for answers about what happened to her. On Friday and Saturday night, they held a fundraiser in her memory to raise money for Michigan's missing people.

"All of us little kids used to walk to school together second, grade, third grade, all the way until we were Freshmen," says Ronnie Marks, Kathy's childhood friend.

Ronnie Marks says he has many fond memories of his long time childhood friend, Kathy Wilcox, a girl he described as more than tough.

"She used to come over and play football with us boys in the neighborhood. She was as tough as anybody so. Just growing up with her, just seeing her in the neighborhood everyday, seeing her at school everyday," says Marks.

But on July 12th 1972 she disappeared without a trace.

"I kind of had the same thought as the police department that I figured she got mad and she ran off but she'd be back when school started and she's not back and you start to wonder. But, it's so far back now...she kind of faded out," Marks says.

It's been nearly 50 years but Marks says he will never give up hope that Kathy will be found.

For a third year in a row he's holding a fundraiser in honor of his long lost childhood friend, helping Michigan's missing.

"We have Kathy leading the way inspiring us to raise money for Missing in Michigan and help these families. There's four thousand people missing in Michigan right now and somebody needs to do something," says Marks.

Keeping hope alive for not only Kathy but the thousands of others lost and Missing in Michigan.

"I never give up on this girl ever. Giving up is not really in the vocabulary. Somebody knows something I totally believe that. Nobody should disappear like that and be forgotten and nobody should disappear like that and not be found," says Marks.

The fundraiser wrapped up at two am on Sunday morning at the M89 Bar in Otsego and will wrap around two am. But, if you can't make it out to the event and would still like to donate to Missing in Michigan click here.