In October, Minerva Tripp’s remains were found by a hunter in rural Lorain County - five years after she went missing.
Minerva was last seen in August of 2012.
This is now the sixth Christmas her family will be spending without her, but the first knowing she’s never coming back.
“I had an inkling, but I wasn’t going to believe that it’s true,” said Marcellette Love, Tripp’s sister. “There have been unanswered questions since we went looking for her."
Since she went missing in 2012, it was her family that spearheaded the search for her, scouring the Cleveland streets that surrounded her home.
But Love says they wish detectives had done more.
“Nobody helped, we went to the police, we kept calling,” she said.
“I know I’m not the only one going through this… it hurts,” said Tripp’s sister, Monique Tripp.
Right now, in Cuyahoga County, there are more than 220 missing people. High profile cases - like the discovery of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight - brought to the public’s attention the urgency and despair of the search for missing men and women.
But for Tripp’s family, still no resolution, still no closure and still no arrest.
“Their parents had a resolution; we’re still looking for ours. So I’m always going to have hope,” said Love.
In the coming weeks, her family will be having a private memorial service to finally lay Minerva Tripp to rest.
