Jeffrey Keith Hegwood
Missing since March 20, 1980 from Hattiesburg, Forrest County, Mississippi. A senior at University of Southern Mississippi.
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There is a silence that clings
heavy on my family tonight
for a lost that fills each heart
yet no tombstone that finalizes or helps us cope
-- for that would be admitting no more hope
Twenty four years, we've waited and wondered
What could have happened to him
Someone has an answer
Someone holds the key
to solving our loss and this mystery.
So young and full of promise
his path in life seemed clear
what could have happened
on that warm March night
to simply lose him from our sight
Unanswered questions for way too long
A son, a brother, and an uncle
to nephews he's never known.
My family's burden to bare
seems much too heavy and unfair
Like a very sweet novel
with the ending ripped out
all the "could haves" and "would haves"
forever haunting our sleep
leaving our lives incomplete
Silence sometimes feels like death
yet, leaves us no grave to mourn.
................................................................
Twenty four years of unanswered questions. A family that still waits anxiously to hear. I post this writing with the unending hope that someday, there will be someone who remembers... someone that holds that key of information that will finally allow a family to rest. We will never let go of hope.
If on a longshot this writing reaches anyone that may have information please contact Rusty Keyes, Lieutenant (Detective Division) Hattiesburg MS Police Department 1-601-545-4974
Author notes
For those who believe in powers higher than our own.. please pray for my family as we face another anniversary of not knowing.
Written March 8th, 2004
What did you think
Comments
1 - 31 of 31
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OMGS hun, I feel all of your pains this morning, waterworks going full force over here. I sooooo hope you get the answers you need hun. I will light a candle for you and your family and wish with all my heart that your answers come swift and true. What a horrible loss to have to endure. Blessings and Love Sweet Lady,
Blessed Be,
Gypsy -
I'm sorry that you and your family are in pain. Warm wishes to you and I leave hope in my wake.
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This was a sincere poem indeed..It makes me feel as if I have it easy in my life...just little teenage problems, when you have that insatiable urge to know what has become of your loved one. I hope you can find him, and I wish that you would never lose hope in your search.
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This is a really great poem. I hope that you find your brother.
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i'll pray for you, and i'll tell anyone who believes in a higher power to do so too. having somthing bad happen like this, is mortifying... death, they say, is somthing that is unstopable... but maybe this was. God bless you, and i hope fate returns your brother to you.. or maybe closure.
With Gods eternal love..
ReAnna
-keep hope in your heart, and keep faith in what you believe. -
This is absolutely beautiful. It's chokes me to read the pain the you and your family are going through and have gone through for the past 24 years. It must be the hardest thing for any one to go through and I think you may be one of the strongest people I have ever 'met'...
My prayers and thoughts also are with you and your family...
'silence sometimes feels like death
yet leaves us no grave to mourn'...
This line had me swallow back my tears. I can't tell you how much this poem has touched me, and how I feel so much sollow towards you...
I hope that one day you and your family will find peace through this continued struggle...
This is a beautifully written poem...you are an amazingly talented poet!
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Oh...wow. There are no words. I am so sorry for what you and your family have had to endure for the past 24 years. My thoughts and prayers go out to you - and i sincerely hope you recieve the closure that your hearts so need.
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Its the not knowing that brings more pain and allows the imagination to run awry and then who knows what ya think has happened. I hope you find answers soon.
Good luck and I'll keep you guys in my thoughts
Natalia -
Sounds like hew was probably down in by some white supremists
for a being a little to open minded, or hanging out with artistically
open minded people like homosexuals or artists, or activists.
Mississippi is an unforgiving place and full of bitter
unenlightened people by the score. granted there are
some wonderfull people done there, but also
people dissappear down there often for saying the
wrong things. I hope you have closure one day.
I'm sorry for your loss. -
*hug*
i don't personally know you, but you've touched me with this poem, to see the care and concern after 24 years, that you haven't given up,, this is a great poem, it obviously has a lot of love and emotion behind it, im sure you have a close family and this also touches them, im sorry i can't help directly but if i could i would in an instant. i hope that things go well for your family and you get reponses to you unanswered questions. we all sympathize. Good Luck
~Divo -
AWWWW,im so sorry that this has happened to you,luckily i have never dealt with it,so i cant imagine how you feel,this is a wonderful write though,it flows beautifully and is amazingly written,there is so much emotion in here,you can see and feel everything as your reading,it takes alot of talent for a writer to be bale to do something like this,you are amazing,i will be praying for you and your family,amazing write,good job,keep writing!
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That makes two of us on here. No, I am not your brother but I would love it verymuch if you could comment a little on a word you used in the second paragraph of your poem. "WALTED".
IN THE MEANTIME, MY BEST WISHES TO YOU. -
I am sorry for your lose. 24 years is definatly an eternaty when you have a worried heart. hell, 1 day feels like an eternaty when ur heart is heavy with sorrow. my heart goes out to you and your family, i hope that you find comfort soon and that you can rest easy know what happened.
your poem was amazing and i hung on every word. you are a truely talented writter and i look foward to reading more of your work. i hope someone sees this and helps you.
Kevin -
I will pray for your family...I'm so sorry for your loss. The poem is beautiful though...very sad, but I admire your writing.
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heartwrenching
i send you the biggest hug i could ever muster up the strength to give.. good luck in finding your answers.. i wish i could be the one to help you. -
Very good work-- it is difficult to communicate emotions like that into a coherent poem-- but you've done it well. My sympathy goes out to you and your family, I can't even begin to understand what you must go through. Please keep writing.
-Moxie -
Beautiful
I am so sorry that you have to deal with this.
But the poem had so much feeling and love and thats the best kind of poem to show your love for someone.
Look for the best and just pray, because god does hear cries for help! -
Wow, I'm so very sorry. That is an absolutely horrible thing to have happened to him and your family. They have these "cold case" detectives now that don't do anything but work on unsolved older cases, and they are making amazing progress. Maybe someday you will get an answer that can give you some peace. I'm so very sorry for your family, I can't imagine how it would feel. Thank you so much for sharing this.
take care -
Kudos
A deep, heartful poem and I pray you find him. -
I am soo sorry that your family has had to go through this my thought and prayer's are with you and your brother, i hope that one day you will find an answer to all those questions.Touching write.
Brooke -
For reasons i will not get into...this piece hits home in ways that i cannot begin to tell...
I cry for you today...i cry for me...i cry...
My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family...that someday soon...you may find closure and peace.
UB -
Awesome
So honestly amazing. Written very well, its very sad, full of emotion. I know it hurts when you lose a loved one and don't know if you've really lost them. My brother ran away December 11th 2002. He called the house for a while. Last time I heard from him he told me he was having a baby. That baby is due in 2 weeks and I havent heard from him since the first month of pregnancy. I know that isnt hardly as long as 24 years so I can't imagine how bad you are hurting. It drives me crazy with only 8 months. All you can do is hope that he is ok and that someday he will return. Good luck in your search. I feel for you. Keep your head up. -
Speechless
I don't know the author but all I can say is that it took someone brave enough to transform the heart's voice into a poem. And a poem written so well that it wins my sympathy and best wishes. I hope your brother returns to your family, and to a wonderful person like you. -
love
*hugs you*
i am so sorry. 24 years is an eternity. i don't know if you care, but howard dean (former presidential candidate) lost his brother mysteriously and only very recently was able to have any closure. knowing about these stories is so painful, i can only imagine how hard it would be to live one. my heart goes out to you.
there are silly things i could comment on, like 'Unanswered questions for way to long' should be '...TOO long',
but i feel like the actual poem is secondary to the emotion here.
i wish you a peaceful anniversary with your family.
ex oh pseudofemme -
I had no idea... I shudder to hear about your brother's disappearance. I pray that the Supreme Being gives you and your family comfort as well as the answers to this mystery. This piece is...so heartwrenching. I cannot, for the life of me, imagine what anguish and anxiety your family must feel. This write is so powerful, yet so sad. I was just thinking about the recent tragedy of the Hargon family, and I want to cry now. Try to keep hope alive, and know that one day this case shall also be solved.
Many blessings,
Raven Aurora
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This is so sad Gypsy, something you had not told me before. You wrote it well and I hope some information comes from it. So often we hear of missing persons not known to us, we feel sadness for those left behind and go on with our lives. I have put a prayer for Jeffrey, as well as for the rest of the family, in my heart for the Lord to read every time he opens it. My deepest sympathy to you all. Loveya, jean
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searching can be a hard thing.. I am searching for my mother, but the difference is that i never met her, so i have no memories. Keep faith. i guess thats all you can do..is to keep faith that he ok. I send my best wishes that al goes well and that your family can be at peace with this in some way.
-Isa -
I am so sorry, you have my hearts sympathy. The pain must be so great, oh i cant even imagine....The poem is so sad, and it just ripps my heart to pieces to think of the little bit of pain i can imagine, net alone the ton you and your family must feel.
My condolences,
Jezzika -
to have nothing to bury, no place to mourn, just a vast forest full of questions and twenty-forur years of no answers....timew heals all wounds but when the flesh is missing the scar it leaves is horrendous, there will be a reunion if not in this life, then in the next,he will come strolling out of the woods into glory and the joyous feel of your families arms.....Hugs and prayers...Artis
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My heart goes out to you and to your family in this time. yes when we read about missing persons the whole tragic take never really hits us. Once for a few months someone very dear had gone missing i know the hell of this very well though we were exztremely lucky. I hope that you too find your answers and the day comes when you can look back upon this time without the pain of loss. I hope for your family to have the same happy ending we did. Prayers help much I pray for you my friend and send you hugs.
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It is easy to read of missing persons reports in the papers and see those crud pictures on billboards, in the post office and milk cartons, but until we are individually touched by the loss no one can understand the inability to put the matter to rest. You have shared that great sence of hopelessness in a passionate and creative way. I pray you will one day have an answer.
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