Laura Hood continues to take the search for her missing brother to the Internet.
Anthony Ross Allen of Fort Smith, then 16, went missing on Oct. 1, 1978. He had been staying with friends in Cedarville before he went missing after traveling to Hartshorne, Okla., a small town near McAlester.
At first, Fort Smith police viewed Allen as a runaway. Years passed before the search started again in earnest a few years ago when family members began using Internet resources. Hood posted her brother's picture on the Doe Network.
Hood appeared on the Internet radio program called "Missing Pieces" on Oct. 10. For those who missed the show, it is archived at www.MissingPieces.info.
"Who knows, maybe it will generate a lead," Hood said. "Our fingers are crossed."
Hood once served as the Doe Network family/loved one liaison. She uses her experience with having a missing loved one to help others.
In her cyberspace conversation, Hood said:
"Between his ninth and tenth grade years at school, he got to where he did his own thing. He would take off for a few days, then come back home, then he'd leave again. But he always kept in touch. He liked people and was always making friends. Some of them we knew, and some we didn't. By the time I was 14 and he was 16, we had different friends and different activities. He was always on the move, and I liked being close to home, family, and my circle of friends.
"After October of 1978 Tony never called or came home again. The days turned into weeks, Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went. He was considered by the police to be a runaway. The weeks turned into months, and the months turned into a year."
When Hood first turned to the Doe Network for help in finding her brother, she said she was apprehensive about the exposure that it would bring.
"When you've lived so many years of your life with so many people being fascinated about your deepest hurt, and curious for details, you tend to shy away," she said. "But, the members immediately embraced me, my family, and my brother."
Todd Matthews, host of "Missing Pieces," said he was thankful to Hood "for sharing with us a sister's undying love for her brother."
"You give us renewed strength in purpose and true inspiration," Matthew said. "You are an amazing compliment to the cause."