By Ben Penserga

Daily Times Staff Writer

PRINCESS ANNE -- It has been nearly three years after her brother's disappearance, and Janet Sydnar is still ready for the phone call or knock on her door that will provide her with some answers. "I'm still waiting to hear any news," she said. When 42-year-old James Clark Creighton did not show up for the family's Christmas dinner on December 23, 2000, Sydnar reported him missing.

And while an exhaustive search by local and state police has not been successful, Snydar continues to stay in Somerset to keep his memory around.

"I know if I leave here, he'll be forgotten," she said.

In the past few months, Sydnar has began the process of legally declaring her brother dead, but is still looking for something that can give her a definitive answer about what happened to Creighton.

"I just want some closure to it," she said. Kylen Johnson hopes to provide that closure. Johnson is the Maryland Area Director for the Doe Network, a volunteer group that tries to match unidentified human remains with missing person profiles. Maryland National Computer Crime Information Center lists more than 2,000 missing persons, Johnson said.
When Johnson took over as the state's director, she realized there was no easily accessible database of Maryland missing persons.
"I set out to find missing and unidentified profiles and found almost zilch online," she said. So the Montgomery County native took matters into her own hands.
"Eventually I decided to put the Web site together as a resource for families dealing with missing persons to promote public awareness of these cases," she said. Since then, Johnson said www.marylandmissing.com has helped identify three unidentified homicide victims by comparing missing and unidentified person cases. Two missing people have also been found. Johnson said the site has also served as a de facto media center and support group. "And when we are contacted by numerous families with missing persons in the state, we help write press releases and gain media exposure on their loved one cases," she said. Sydnar appreciates what Johnson is trying to do with the site.
"I think it's extremely important," she said. "Sometimes it's not pleasant to look at (old or reconstructed photos), but it has to be done."
While she assumes her brother is dead, Sydnar said that will not stop her from posting information about her brother on the Web site. "I just want to do anything to keep it out there," she said.
Johnson said she plans to expand the Web site in the future by getting funding or donations for rewards, but ultimately, the goal is to help.
"I want to keep these cases alive in the news and let it be known these people are not forgotten," she said.