Bobbie Farrell, 42, remembers Sept. 17, 1984 as though it were yesterday.
The 14-year-old was a freshman at Amphi High School and she'd just come home from band practice when her stepfather at the time gave her the news.
Her cousin Vicki Lynne Hoskinson was missing.ย
"My first thought was that she'd stopped off at a friend's house and time got away from her," Bobbie said.
Then she turned on the radio and heard a news broadcast.
"I became hysterical," Bobbie said.
She remembers the surreal scene when she arrived at her Aunt Debbie's house and breaking down in class when a sketch of a possible kidnapping suspect was passed out. (It turned out to be a false lead.)
"We were always together. We went camping a lot, we played at each other's houses a lot, we had sleep overs at grandma's house and we played softball together," Bobbie said of herself, Vicki and Vicki's sister, Stephanie.
Now the mother of two kids, ages 12 and 9, Bobbie is a devout Christian whoย knows she's over-protective.
Her kids use the buddy system when they go somewhere without her and they are required to call her once they arrive, she said.
Like other members of Vicki's family, Bobbie says she's frustrated the appeals process continues for her cousin's killer.
"I don't understand why it takes so long," Bobbie said. "His car was spotted numerous times in front of her school and he'd been involved with children in the past."
ย Last month marked the 25th anniversary of Frank Jarvis Atwood's arrival on death row. Read where his case stands in today's Star. It's a print exclusive.
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