Rick Darling - Vanished

VANISHED :

T HE DISAPPEARANCE OF TAMMY KINGERY

PHIL SUNDAY

According to The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), well over 600,000 persons are reported missing every year in the U.S. These individualsold and young, male and femaleoften disappear without warning or trace. In many cases, these missing individuals are found within a short amount of time, typically none the worse for wear. But sadly, in many other cases, these individuals who have vanished without a trace are left unaccounted for more than a yearin essence becoming what many agencies consider a cold case when all potential investigative leads have been exhausted.

One such cold case has been the subject of much speculation over the last few years. Tammy Kingery, a housewife, and mother of three lived a fairly unassuming life in the town of North Augusta, South Carolina. But as the days and months progressed, the circumstances surrounding her sudden and bizarre disappearance began to take on sinister overtones. And throughout it all, the questions multiplied: Where was Tammy? What happened during those two hours when she was alone in the house? And how does someone just disappear so quickly and completely, with not even the barest hint of a trace?

Tammys Early Life

Tamara Tammy Russell was born on April 13, 1977, in Northwest Indiana. She quickly became a bright light in her familys everyday life.

She was just so nice, all the time, even as a child, recalled her sister, Becky Aldering. We shared a room, not because we had to, but because we wanted to.

While Tammy was attending high school, she worked afternoons at a local pharmacy, where she struck up a friendship with the young man stocking the shelvesPark Kingery.

We just started talking and it progressed from there, Park reminisced.

He was nice and quiet. They seemed a good match, noted Carolyn Russell, Tammys mother. The young couple apparently agreed with Carolyns assessment. On September 20, 1994five months after Tammys 17th birthdayshe and Park got engaged. They were married within two years.

Shortly after their marriage, Park nabbed a job as a welder in South Carolina. The couple decided to take a big leap and decided to relocate to Edgefield County, South Carolina (population 26,985), a good two-hour drive east of Atlanta. The decision surprised Tammys family but according to family members, she was happy in her new surroundings. She decided to enroll in nursing school. Soon, she announced some wonderful news: she and Park were expecting their first childa girl, Caitlin.

Its what she had been dreaming of her entire life, her dad remembers. She finally became a mom. She was so happy.

Tammys sister agrees. To see her holding any child, but her own children in particularshe just loved them. She was never happier than when she was holding a baby.

After finishing a degree in nursing in 2001, Tammy settled into her new job as a nurse caring for the residents of an NHC Healthcare nursing home as a nurse in a local branch of the NHC Healthcare nursing home, just a ten-minute drive from their home.

Tammy was a really caring individual, observed her mother Carolyn in a TV interview. The people that she took care of, she became really close to her patients. You would even see her at their funerals when they passed away. So, she built her life kind of around her work.

During that time, Tammy and Park also welcomed into the world their second childtheir first boy, Carter. With a growing family to look after, Tammy and Park began building their own residence in a densely wooded region of Edgefield County in 2007. Their new home, nestled in a quiet corner off the main road, was quiet and serene. Family members reminisced about how Tammy would enjoy spending time out on the second-floor deck.

Soon after they moved into their new dream house, the couple had their third child, Cameron. With a new home, a fulfilling career, and three wonderful children, Tammy finally had everything she had wanted.

The Weeks Before

During the first weeks of September 2014, Tammy seemed to be suffering physicallyaccording to Park she had had to miss a few days of work, which was unlike her. Tammy would typically go straight to bed after returning home from work. Park said that Tammy believed her ailments were untreatable.

Around the middle of September, Tammy began suffering from insomnia and other sleeping disorders. On one occasion she had a severe case of night sweats which forced her to change her clothes.

Tammy had reached out to us and told us that she was not feeling herself for the past four nights, her sister Becky remembered. She had woken up in the middle of the night and needed to change her clothes because she was sweating so badly.

Tammys sisters were worried and urged her to make an appointment to get a thorough check-up as soon as possible. She mentioned to them that she had already done so and would be seeing her doctor on September 21.

September 20, 2014: The Day of The Disappearance

It was still a cool 67 degrees on the morning of September 20, 2014, when Tammy began her shift at NHC Healthcare on Austin Graybill Road. As Tammys sister Becky remembers it, Tammys co-workers noticed almost immediately that something was amiss with her.

She came in that morning and right away was not feeling good, said Becky. The people around her said she was acting agitated and began repeatedly checking her blood pressure and that it was high. They were trying to get her to calm her down, telling her that her agitated state was making it worse. One of the women she worked with reported that Tammy got loud.

And Tammy doesnt get loud, Becky emphasized.

Not too long after her shift began, Tammy called her husband to let him know that she wasnt feeling very well and wanted to come back home to rest.

She called about an hour after she went to work, Park stated. Says her heart rate was way up, she was dizzy, and I needed to pick her up.

Since Tammy didnt feel well enough to drive herself home, Park told her to leave her car at work, and that he would come by and bring her home himself. He arrived shortly, and the two returned to their home, where an exhausted Tammy slipped into her pajamas and lay down in their bedroom to take a nap.

Park thought that it would be best if his wife had the opportunity to get some rest without being interrupted by other family members. Their daughter was already out of the house and at a friends place where she had slept over the previous evening. Deciding that Tammy would get more rest if the rest of the household was out, Park left the house with their two sons to run errands around town at approximately 10 a.m. Their first stop was Parks mothers home, where his older son was dropped off, so he could mow the lawn for his grandmother. Park and his younger son then embarked on a series of errands, visiting several stores around town. By the time the two returned home, only a couple of hours had passed since their departure.

Almost immediately, Park knew that something was wrongthe dog was chained outside, and the door was locked. Inside, things were even more strange: there was a note from Tammy that contained nine words.

"Gone for a walk. Be back soon. Love you."