It was rough. It was a rough time for the whole community.

It hit her town like a lightning bolt. The strange disappearance of Kerry Olson.

It was scary. Everyone loved Kerry. It was so painful.

You reached out to Dayline. I did, yes. We started getting people following our page.

Where was she? What was behind this? Far from home. A lead.

I saw the tattoo and I said, that's her tattoo, isn't it?

And three caught on camera clues.

Someone's in her car. Someone's at her bank.

But most jaw-dropping of all, someone's up on stage with a song turned sinister.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing.

Could Kerry Olson be a key to this case?

My heart was just pounding and pounding.

I was sweating. I was nervous. We needed to figure this out.

Best.

Here's Andrea Canning with Without A Trace.

It's a sad fact of American life. Families separated from their loved ones.

Gone. Without a trace. Nationwide, there are almost 100,000 active missing persons cases.

Since December 2013, Dayline's online missing in America series has been telling some of those heartbreaking stories.

One of the first came from the heartland.

Where not everything is serene and pastoral.

This is the Quad Cities. Urban. Industrial.

Gritty. Four cities split by the mighty Mississippi River, two on the Iowa side, two in Illinois.

...