MUNCIE — A Muncie man is trying to bring attention to his missing daughter’s case, after watching the Gabby Petito case unfold on national television.
“Ashley was a loving, caring person,” said Don Morris. “I mean amazing, an artist.”
Morris says watching the Gabby Petito case stirred up many feelings, since his daughter Ashley, 27, went missing from Muncie eight years ago.
“It hit home,” Morris said. “And I’m the same as that father. I need answers.”
Morris has always suspected a man Ashley was involved with had something to do with her disappearance. But no arrests have ever been made, and Ashley has never been found.
“She used to call her brother every day,” Morris said. “And it just cut off.”
Last seen in September of 2013, Morris feels that not enough was done at the time to investigate when his daughter disappeared. Though not to him, he feels like she’s been forgotten. In Indiana, there are roughly 200 active missing persons cases right now, according to Indiana State Police.
“If we could just hire one person for each city and each department to do nothing but cold cases,” Morris suggested. “That’s their job. Cold cases.”
After eight years of wondering what happened to his daughter, Morris fears he’ll never get answers. The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office says they have a dedicated investigator who follows up on any leads that come in since Ashley Morris went missing in 2013.
Investigators are not calling this a cold case.
Indiana State Police have a central hub website dedicated to collecting information on missing people: https://www.in.gov/isp/mcmea/missing-person-bulletin/
