WILKES-BARRE — A tree grows on Loomis Street in Nanticoke.
And with it, the hopes of finding Phylicia Thomas and bringing her killers to justice grow as well.
Every time I see Pauline Bailey, Phylicia’s heartbroken mother, my heart aches. She has been waiting for more than 17 years for a break in the case — that somehow Phylicia will be found and those responsible for her death will also be found.
There are no words that can ever take away the pain and anguish that Pauline Bailey has been living with since her daughter disappeared in February of 2004.
Pauline has done all she can to find out what happened to Phylicia and who is responsible. It’s been a never-ending crusade. And all Pauline wants is for her daughter to be brought home, given a proper burial and whatever happens after that, so be it.
On Thursday, Pauline and her family and friends planted a silver maple tree across the street from Bailey’s Loomis Street home. Two benches sit on either side of the tree, giving Bailey and her family a place to go and pray and reflect on the last 17 and a half years in hope of a break in the case.
“All I want is for Phylicia to be found so I can bury her,” Bailey said. “I just wish somebody would come forward to tell us where she is so we can go and find her and bring her home.”
Bailey said she waits every day for the phone to ring or for a knock on her door telling her Phylicia has been found.
“It’s just unbelievable that it’s been 17 years and we are still waiting,” Bailey said. “It’s unbelievable that the people at that party won’t come forward and try to help find Phylicia and find who did this. They know what happened. We’ve heard the same story from several people, but it never goes anywhere.
“We just miss her so much.”
Pauline wants closure — she deserves closure. She needs closure.
She wants to be able to bury her daughter’s remains and then be able to visit her gravesite and place flowers, knowing that Phylicia is at eternal rest.
“We want to finally be able to say goodbye,” she said.
For now, Pauline will walk across Loomis Street and take a seat on one of the benches and she will pray. She will talk to Phylicia and she will keep hoping that closure will come soon.
The pain is always on Pauline’s face — 17 and a half years of pain. And it’s frustrating for her because she has always said that she knows what happened to Phylicia at that trailer party in February 2004. And she said she knows who is responsible.
But the case remains unsolved. Investigators would welcome someone to come forward with information that would lead to an arrest, or to the location of Phylicia’s remains.
Bailey said she has heard nothing new in the 17-year-old case, but she remains hopeful that her daughter will be found and those responsible will be brought to justice.
Judy Lorah Fisher, a friend of Bailey’s who has taken a major role in trying to locate Phylicia, said the sugar maple tree area will provide a place where they can put flowers and sit on the bench next to the tree and celebrate Phylicia’s life.
Fisher said the Phylicia’s sister, Jocelyn, placed rocks and made a big heart around the center where the tree was planted and her brother, Jesse, made two benches placed on either side of the tree.
Bailey said she accepted that Phylicia is dead a long time ago — the presumed victim of a brutal murder that occurred at a party in Hunlock Township on a cold February night in 2004. Phylicia’s body has never been found.
Pauline says there were as many as 17 people at the party who would have heard the screams and seen a body being carried out of a bedroom and out of the trailer and taken somewhere and buried.
But nobody has come forward with any compelling testimony to help investigators find Phylicia’s remains and bring the guilty parties to justice.
A tree in Phylicia’s honor and memory is growing on Loomis Street in Nanticoke.
Let’s hope it grows the hope of bringing closure to this case.